Dragon Warriors United They Stand
by 2nickells
Summary: But in their attempt to abuse a force they did not understand, the Shaodwbolts unwittingly caused tragedy. But through this tragedy, will the Shadowbolts and others come to understand the value of a single human being? And will Sunset overcome her grief and try to prevent another one? And will the Warriors stop Origa?
1. Connor's Last Game

**Dragon Warriors**

**United They Stand**

As the final event of the Friendship Games loomed, Twilight found herself somewhere she had never been before: the center of the attention at Crystal Prep. But instead of it being from the praise she had hoped to get for her discoveries and previous accomplishments, the notice came from the unwitting key to victory for her school, and for her praise-hungry principal. And instead of cheers, all she received were warnings from her classmates and a stern blackmail threat from her principal.

"That magic around your neck could do a lot of good," her principal said, in a polite, yet somewhat hungry tone.

"But, I don't know how it-," Twilight protested. Before being interrupted by an angry Indigo Zap.

"Do you want us to lose," Zap interrupted, her face stern and merciless.

"No but-,"

"Come on Twi," Lemon Zest with an excitable, but iron, smile, "you heard the lady, loosen up a little."

"I said I don't,"

"You don't do it," Sunny Flare interrupted, "and we lose, we'll tell everyone it was all your fault."

"My fault," Twilight asked, incredulously.

"No Twilight, it won't be your fault," Sour Sweet said sweetly. Her mouth twisted into a frown. "Well just tell everyone we could have won, but you chickened out!"

"You'll be a loser." Sugarcoat said, bluntly.

"See Twilight, your teammates are all counting on you," Principal Cinch warned. "I'm counting on you," she said leaning in. "Everton depends on it," she mouthed, before stepping back.

Twilight's team-, no her classmates made their demands clear. Cinch reminded her what was at stake. She sighed and walked toward the other team.

All around Twilight, jeers, and taunts blared all around her, Crystal Prep's student body encouraging-no, forcing her to use her magic to cheat and ensure another victory to satisfy their egos. Slowly but surely, the pressure from her teammates and the blackmail and manipulation from Cinch wore away at her inhibitions. As she marched forward toward where the flag competition would start, her fear of the unknown slowly disappeared and was replaced by her hunger for a discovery she could call her own.

"Imagine all I'll learn by setting it free," she intoned, as she took the pendant off of her neck and held in front of her face.

"Now winning these games depends on me," she sung, rubbing her finger on the pendant like it was a precious valuable.

"And what doors that will open if I try to use it," she said, gazing at the pendant longingly, before narrowing her eyes, as the last bot of doubt died within her.

"The last event of the Friendship Games begins..." Dean Cadence said into the microphone, prompting cheers from the audience of both schools.

"But the magic's what I really want to see," Twilight finished, slowly opening the pendant once more.

Sunset saw her look at the pendant with a hunger, and ran forward, desperately attempting to stop Twilight before she caused an even greater calamity. The now English-speaking Spike sprinted toward his owner, trying to save her from her own curiosity before it was too late.

"Twilight, No," he cried out, running faster than he had ever had before.

Principal Cinch leaned forward too as, her top student opened the pendant, eager to see how magic could helo her once again triumph over Canterlot High School.

"Now," screamed Vice Principal Luna and Dean Cadence, signaling the beginning of the final event. With that, Twilight opened her pendant.

For a moment, little appeared to happen, as a small orb of purple energy emerged from the pendant. But in a fraction of a section, the orb exploded with a ray of light, knocking the Rainbooms, the Shadowbolts, and Spike to the ground. Twilight stood erect, the burst of energy only blowing the glasses off her face, and undoing the bun she styled her hair into.

Suddenly the sphere rose, and Twilight rose with it almost twenty feet from the ground, dropping her pendant along the way. The sphere's volume expanded, slowly consuming Twilight by her hands first.

As more and more of her body was absorbed by the rapidly ballooning ball of light, Twilight turned her head back at her teammates and her principal, her eyes full of fear at what was happening.

"Heeeeeelp... MEEE!," she cried out desperately, even yanking her arm out of the sphere, instinctively trying to find a helping hand to pull her out. But her teammates, who looked at her with a combination of fear and shock, were too far away for her to reach. But one student grabbed her hand, Connor Nickell, she wept tears by the sphere that was about to consume her, Connor finally pulled Twilight out of the sphere and safely caught her.

With Twilight safe from its magical grasp, the sphere hung in the air for a few moments, a hand or,-someone's hand grabbed Connor by the shirt and dragged him into the sphere, glowing a powerful purple. But then it exploded in a white hot light rivaling that of a supernova, blinding those who hadn't looked away.

Once everyone's vision was clear, they saw that the field had been covered in a massive pile of smoke. Both Shadowbolt and Rainboom alike stared at the center, waiting to see what ahd become of Connor. Those in the stands also looked toward the center, wondering what had happened to the boy.

The Principal and Vice Principal of Canterlot, standing on top of the steps that led to the entrance of their school, both held their hands as they too looked at the haze with fear and anticipation. The family of Connor, however, looked at the smokey area with horror, their eyes resembling those who had seen their child tumble off a cliff.

Everyone stared dumbly at the haze for a minute. When Connor had not emerged, Sunset and the rest of the Rainbooms trudged forward the haze.

"Connor," Twilight said with a mix of fear and hope. "Connor," she said louder, hoping that it would get the boy to come forward.

"Connor," Pinkie Pie screamed. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" She said childishly, albeit with a hint of anxiety.

The Shadowbolts also began to hesitantly toward the decreasing haze, their faces also reflecting a mixture of fear and hope. Even the normally stoic Sugarcoat looked shocked.

"Connor are you there, buddy!" Indigo Zap asked with her usual pep rally enthusiasm, albeit strained by a little bit of terror "We can't do this without you!" She and the other Shadowbolts moved slightly faster toward the center of the haze. Their principal, however, remained rooted in place, her face was full of mild concern as she watched her students approach the haze.

"Connor," uttered Spike, as he slowly marched on all fours toward the haze, his eyes full of never-ending concern for the boy. Once the Rainbooms and the Shadowbolts reached the center of the field, the haze had vanished and they saw all that remained.

A scorch mark in the center that burned part of the path of the entrance, Connor's phone, Twilight's purple pendant, and one of his shoes, half melted and smoking. The pendant sat there, the glow coming from within phasing in and out before vanishing like a light bulb that burned out its filament.

The two teams and a dog stared dumbly at the remains, possibly believing that staring would make a certain white-skinned boy appear. But there was no mistaking it.

Connor Nickell was gone.


	2. An Empty Spot

Just a few moments ago, the whole field had been filled with cheers of those seeking victory on one side, and the arrogant bellows who had hoped to triumph once again on the other side.

But now, a palatable silence hung over the crowd. The excitement of the day and the fear of everybody felt once the magic had been unleashed had been replaced with the silence of a tomb, as everyone stared at the spot where Connor Nickell once stood.

At the epicenter of the magical incident, the chilling calm was the most profound, as Wondercolt and Shadowbolt alike stared silently at the phone, smokey shoes, and the pendant laying idly on the ground, almost catatonic. The solemn quiet, seemingly lasted an eternity, but it was broken after a few moments by a voice laden with concern.

"Connor," said Spike, as he approached the spot where the boy once stood. The voice was soft, but it quickly broke the trance the two teams were in. They all stared at the sentient dog, their faces still solemn. If the Shadowbolts were stunned by hearing a dog use human speech, they did not reveal it.

"Connor," Spike repeated, in a voice that held even more crushing sadness. He walked to the center of the scorch mark, in between the phone and pendant. "Come back," he cried out in a pained voice, collapsing onto his belly in tears.

His anguished cries, though barely audible, broke the restraint of some of those present.

Among the Wondercolts, Pinkie Pie began to weep like a baby. Her wild, poofy hair straightened, as if the unforeseen energy that made her energetic drained away. Fluttershy walked over to the mournful Spike, picked him up and cradled him like a baby. As she tried to comfort the dog, sad tears were running down her cheeks.

Among the Shadowbolts, Lemon Zest fell to her knees, her face like that of someone who had committed a crime of passion and regretted it, and began crying, taking her precious headphones off her head, and throwing them down in a fit of self-loathing. Sour Sweet also began crying, her anguished noises filling the air. Those who were able to maintain their composure looked toward the entrance, hearing the noise of heels running across the concrete path.

A frantic Dean Cadence ran toward the burn mark on the ground, her face full of concern. She bent her neck, looking down at the artifacts of her student, like she was looking at a grave site. Her eyes were that of a person about to mourn.

"What happened to him," Cadence asked desperately. Despite her sadness, she saw the Wondercolts who had maintained their cool turned their heads to Sunset. Cadence walked over to Sunset, realizing she was the only person present who could give an answer.

"What happened to him," Cadence asked Sunset in a louder voice. The fired hair girl, her eyes beginning to water, first looked to her friends, who sought her guidance. She then looked toward the Dean, whose face was growing impatient with Sunset's silence.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!"

"I DON'T KNOW," Sunset screamed at the Dean, her face red with frustration. She saw the tears beginning to flow from the Dean's eyes, and composed herself again. "I don't know," Sunset uttered, her voice broken.

With that, Cadence's composure slipped, and she fell to her knees, releasing a cry of agony so loud, it could be heard in the heavens. She wept the loudest, picking up the phone and pendant and clutching them to her heart. Spike wiggled out of Fluttershy's grasp, and walked over to the more familiar woman, putting his head against her legs, as they both mourned Connor.

Those who had maintained their equanimity couldn't hold it in anymore. All the Wondercolts wept, as did the Shadowbolts. Celestia and Luna walked over to the anguished Dean, and both hugged her tightly in an attempt to calm her down.

In the bleachers, both Canterlot and Crystal Prep student alike were in varying degrees of sorrow.

The mourning of the two teams was interrupted by the approach of a very angry principal.

"You did this," screamed Cinch, staring furiously at the Wondercolts. They all stared at the angry woman, tears full of sadness and regret. Sunset's face was morphed into one of guilt.

"Principal Cinch," Sunset said in a quiet, guilty voice, small drops falling from her face, "I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to-,"

"Enough," she hissed said angrily, causing Sunset to cease defending herself, "you and Canterlot's magical shenanigans just killed my student. I plan to report this to the proper-,"

"You're the one who made her use the magic," shouted Sugarcoat, her voice full of rage. The Wondercolts and the two administrators of Canterlot High looked at Cinch, their eyes still crying, but their faces becoming angry. Except for Owen Bzinak, who unbeknownst to everybody, suddenly, stopped weeping and staring at Cinch with cold eyes.

"What," Cadence barked, looking at Cinch and the Shadowbolts. "You made her unleash the magic," Cadence said sadly, her face that of someone who had been stabbed in the back.

"Actually, we're all to blame." said Sour Sweet sadly. She suddenly glared at Cinch. "She's the one who thought it was a good idea," she paused as she saw Principal Celestia, her voice laden with anger.

"You made her unleash the magic," Celestia said furiously, "What were you thinking?!"

"I see what you're doing," Cinch said, ignoring Cadence's dismay. "You're trying to blame me when you are the ones who cheated. I demand you forfeit the games immediately." The Windercolts and Shaodwbolts stopped weeping, their faces replaced with disgust and shock. Owens's face remained calm and composed, but he began to clench his fists, and looked at Cinch like a silent predator about to pounce on his prey.

"The games," Celestia said, her voice filled with disgust as she began clenching her teeth. "you lead your students to push Twilight into unleashing something she didn't understand, which killed him, and you're talking about the games?! Don't you give a damn about him?!" Her face softened as she heard Cadence's tears. Cinch however, retained her cold appearance in the face of everyone's anger. Fluttershy looked to Owen, and while Owen's face remained composed, she also noticed the vein on Owen's forehead was throbbing, and the boy's ballad fists were beginning to tremble.

"The boy was the strongest athlete in school. And that girl was my ticket to success, and you destroyed him," Cinch yelled back. "For that, you deserve-," what words were about to leave her mouth stopped as she heard a furious scream to her right. She turned her head, and saw Owen running toward her, screaming with rage, his face as red as parts of Sunset's hair. Before Cinch could react, Owen pounced on her, tackling the middle-aged principal to the ground. Cinch was shocked as no student had dared laid a finger on her, let alone attacked her. But the shock ended as she felt her glasses being pulled off. Cinch saw Owen climbing on top of her, the blonde-haired boy's face resembling that of an angry animal. Before she could call for help, she felt a white fist collide with her face. And then another. The boy wailed on the principal, his eyes without an ounce of pity, his voice full of grunts as he laid a blow after blow on the principal.

The pummeling lasted for a few minutes before she felt Owen being pulled off of her. She laid down, feeling blood on her lips, wondering why no one was coming to her aid. Though injured and dazed, she still had the energy to pull herself up. When she stood up, she saw a hyperventilating Owen being held back by Rainbow Dash and Applejack. While the boy was restrained, the fury in his eyes remained.

"This little demon attacked a member of faculty," said Cinch when she finally regained her composure, "that alone should disqualify you-,"

"You know what," bellowed Owen, pulling his arms free from the girls. "Fine. Go ahead. Disqualify me! I forfeit! You win!" Cinch was shocked at the statement, as were the Shadowbolts.

"They called this event the 'Friendship Games'." said Owen, his voice laden with righteous fury. "One would think that is what these games should be about." He narrowed his eyes even more. "But you people don't care about that. You use this contest just so you can make yourselves big and make us feel small. You don't seem to know what FRIENDSHIP is!" His voice carried throughout the field. Crystal Prep students were shocked by the boy's invective. He paused. He turned his eyes toward the Shadowbolts, glaring at them with the same amount of contempt he gave Cinch. The Shadowbolts barely resisted the urge to run from Owen's wrath. "You don't even give it your own teammate! You put him in danger, and made Twilight unleash something none of you could control just because you wanted to win! How selfish and stupid are you people!" The Shaodwbolts flinched and bowed their heads in shame. A not so small number of Crystal Preppers did the same as well. "You pushed her into that, despite the fact you knew something dangerous had happened the last time magic was unleashed, I just can't..." Owen pinched his nose in anger, too furious to speak. He took a deep breath.

"I learned long ago that there is something more important than winning." he glanced at the girls, giving them a warm smile, which they returned. His anger returned when he turned back to the Shadowbolts. "I don't need to step on other people to feel important, or win a contest to make myself feel good." he looked down, at a bit of regret on his face, before looking scornfully. "But that's all you people care about! So, you know what, enjoy your victory." He clenched his teeth. "You earned it," he growled out.

He then stormed out in rage. Slowly but surely was followed by the other Wondercolts, who all glared at the Shaodwbolts, with Rainbow Dash's glare being so strong, it could melt lead. Soon, the Canterlot student body also followed Owen's lead, and all walked away from the bleachers, giving Crystal Prep students varying degrees of angry looks. Within minutes, all of Canterlot High had left, except for Luna, Celestia, and Cadence, who were trying to comfort Connor's family.

All of Crystal Prep in the stands sat their ashamed or crying, except for Cinch, who was shocked by Owen's forfeiting the games, who was feeling the pain from Owen's blows. Twilight picked up the pendant, she glared the cursed thing with angry tears that killed her friend just to get to Everton, she threw the device away and cried in regret. Cadence was giving Cinch a particularly cold look, as she comforted them along with spike.

Cadence heard a ring of her cell phone, and saw Shining Armor calling her up. She reluctantly answered.

"Hey Cadence," Shining's happy voice said through the phone. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to the Games. How were they? Did Twilight come out on top?" Cadence wept even louder into the speaker. Eventually Celestia took the phone from her, while Luna continued to hold the grieving family.

"Shining Armor," Celestia said calmly into the speaker, "Cadence can't come to the phone."

"What happened, why is she crying?," Armor said, his voice alarmed by his wife's cries. "And where's Twilight?"

Celestia bit her lip, wondering how she was going to explain what happened. Her eyes watered. "Well Shining," she said, tears starting to drop from her eyes.

The Rainbooms all followed Owen to the parking lot, with varying degrees of anger. Rainbow Dash, however, smiled proudly at Owen, and ran up to greet him.

"Owen," Rainbow Dash said excitedly, "that was awesome what you said back there..." she paused when she saw tears leaking down from the white boys eyes. "Owen, are you OK," she asked. Owen sprinted away, crying loudly.

"Darling wait," Rarity screamed, concerned for the boy.

Owen ignored their concerned cries, ran away from the school into the night, his wails audible to all, until she was far from the school. The girls looked at the direction he had left in, their eyes full of sadness.


	3. Welcome to Eostia

Connor felt like he's been pulled through by the purple sphere, and felt a warm feeling coming from the back. He laid down on the ground and feeling dizzy, but he has to get up and finish the Friendship Games. But, he then heard some words.

"Who do you think he is?"

"Is he gonna be, alright?"

"Where did he came from?" Connor slowly started to get up and to his shock. He isn't in Canterlot High. But a village of an unknown land, where curious villagers are staring at him and saw a different group of people.

A dark-skinned man wore a combination of leather and metal armor wielding a large sword with one arm that for normal people required the use of two hands to even left off the ground. He wore the symbol of a black dog on a piece of red armor on his left shoulder. The man had an exceedingly dark 5'o clock shadow and even possessed a scar over his left eye. And his name is Vault.

A young girl, around Connor's age with pale blonde hair and had eyes as blue as sapphires. Her attire is a combination of blue and white armor and clothing with a couple of hair clips and a headband that matched her style. Figure wise she still possessed some room for growth in the chest area, around a high B-cup. She had an air about her that made one think of her as a tomboy. And her name is Alicia Arcturus.

Another girl had long pink hair and had similar blue eyes to Alicia although was slightly brighter than hers. She wore a gold tiara with red strings attached and had a white and pink dress, similar to that of a princess. She appeared to be somewhat younger than her companion but still appeared to be of marriageable age but the thing that really made her stand out as she was the kind of cute that made men want to date on her and protect her to their final breath. Not only that but her breasts seemed to be a full cup larger than her companion's appearing to be a C-cup. And her name is Prim Fiorie.

A young girl of about 12 or 13 of age and wore a large green cloak and a hat along with socks that went up to her thighs and brown clothing with white fur. She had bright orange, curly hair, and bright brown eyes. She had dog-like ears and a small tail that barely managed to peak out and from her cloak. She was a special species of demi-human that had the appearance of children as such she was actually older than she appeared to be. She was considered to have one of the brightest minds among others and was the "child"-prodigy. And her name is Luu Luu.

A woman wore a see-through like shawl over a red robe. She appeared to be about Connor's age if not slightly older and ha shoulder-length black hair with two purple ribbons keeping the hair on the side tied up. Her most striking feature was the crown-like object on the head; made of white and gold it stretched to each side of her shoulders and had a bell tied to each side with a gold sun center. She seemed to be examining with her brown eyes with the same level of interest as the others did. And her name is Kaguya.

Another woman's hair was a dark red nearly akin to a rose and wore both a dark headband and choker around her neck. She wore a red jacket with white fur around her neck and showed how well trained she was as Connor could see numerous little scars, which were so old that they were faded to the point of being easy to miss, and wore purple pants and black boots. Finally, around her waist was a large belt that held a short sword on each side of her body. The brown eyes she looked at Connor showed much anger and confusion as if trying to understand something. And her name is Maia.

Then another woman was in her early 30's with cream-colored skin azure blue eyes with a beauty mark underneath her left eye and had her long light tan hair tied in a bun. She wore silver and gold armor that covered her shoulders, arms, legs, waist, and covered her E-cup size breasts and a cloth to cover the rest of her lower body. She wore a silver and gold headpiece and wore a long double-edged sword on the left side of her waist. And her name is Claudie Levantain.

And finally, an elder yet muscular man with balding hair with a beard, he wore silver shoulder pads, gauntlets, and knee pads. He wears a cloth that covers his torso, wears a red cape, and cream-colored clothing. And his name is Grave Levantain.

"Holy crap. Who are you, people?!" Connor questioned, who is now frightened.

"Calm yourself, child." Claudia hushed. "We don't want to hurt you," she said.

"What is this place? Where Am I?" he desperately asked. The knights knew he wasn't from their world, so, they had to explain it to him.

"Well, this is the land of, Eostia," Alicia explained. Then Connor was downright horrified. That sphere sends him, to another dimension. He then felt a tug, he turned and to his surprise, a black-scaled dragon. And everywhere, dragons of different shapes and sizes along with villagers.

Knowing that he's in an uncharted land, he took out a sword from a barrel to defend himself.

"En, garde!" Connor yelled. The knights were shocked to see the boy growing frightened, that some of the guards drew their swords.

"Stand, your ground!" Claudia ordered. "We need to reason with him," she said.

"Don't worry, I got this," Vault spoked. He then walked toward Connor and tried to persuade him to lower his weapon. "Now, now, boy. There's no need to-" he avoided a punch from Connor. "Take it easy. See, the princesses won't harm you. They like you." he reasoned with him. And Connor calmed down, and lower the sword.

"You sure, they're friendly?" Connor questioned.

"Yes, including me," Vault said. "I was the one who pulled you, from that portal," he explained. Connor began connecting the keys of what Vault told him and figured it out.

"You're the one who pulled me through that sphere," Connor said in realization.

"That's right. And that sphere you told us created a portal to our world, and your world. That portal was about to blow up with you with it, which is why I saved you." Vault explained.

"Really, thank you," Connor said.

"Well, that's over, now let's get him to the castle," said Luu Luu in a laid back manner. But Connor was confused about a castle.

"Castle?" he asked.

"Yes. This is the kingdom, of Rad." Kaguya spoked.

"Rad. Now I get it." Connor giggled. Soon, the knights took him to the castle, where he will be treated.

Soon, they finally made it to the castle, and Connor is its guest.

The doors began to open and reveal a throne room. It was a unique room with pillars and a large stretch of purple carpeting. Its occupants are consists of nuns, maids, and royal guards. And someone was already there.

She was around Connor's height at 5 foot 6 and had marvelous green eyes. Her pale, almost white, blonde hair stretched down to her legs. She wore a white robe and two brown straps hung from a circle just beneath her breasts.

To top it off she had two types of crowns; the first was worn on the top of her head and was made to look like a wreath while the second was worn around her forehead and was amazingly crafted gold. But the thing about the beauty that caught Connor's attention were her ears, they were long and pointed like a knife. And her name is Celestine Lucullus.

"Lady Celestine it is an honor to have you grave our home with your presence this day. I must apologize for the other Shield Princesses' arrival just now as well as for not having anything prepared for you." Claudia kept her head down as the other princesses and Connor positioned themselves in a proper kneeling position.

"Please, you need not worry yourself over that. You may also stand as well. I would never dream of making you kneel in your own home like this." Celestine's voice was clear and full of kindness. The knights and Connor stood up as Celestine approached them. "As for why I am here is to handle a couple of important matters, Claudia. Tell me, young man, why are you here?" Celestine asked politely.

Connor was nervous to talk to a high elf with a lot of people, and new people, who are in the castle.

A boy with black hair and yellow eyes wore a royal blue attire with a red strap across his torso, black pants, and black boots. And his name is Prince William

A man with blue eyes and brown hair wore a royal red attire with a sword strapped on his left side of his waist, blue pants, and brown boots. And his name is, King William.

A woman has green eyes and blonde hair, and also wore royal clothing. An elegant light-blue dress and wore a necklace. And her name is Queen Jeanne.

An old nobleman wearing a green tunic with a tie and some blue pants and brown boots. Has grey hair and a mustache, and wears a red beret. And his name is Beardsley.

And finally. A young man was younger and had a more intelligent look to Connor. He wore a blue and evergreen tunic and baggy black pants underneath his purple cloak which had a black dog emblem on his collar. His brown hair was more well kept and is calculating green eyes were hidden behind black glasses. And his name is Kin.

"Go on," Vault told him. So Connor grabbed the courage and spoke to her.

"Well Lady Celestine, I come from another dimension," Connor started to explain. "I went to Crystal Prep, we were competing against Canterlot High during the Friendship Games. But there, was magic. I discovered that when giant plants came out through portals, the one person collecting the magic was, Twilight Sparkle. My principal and the other Shadowbolts demanded Twilight to release the magic from her pendant, to which Principal Cinch accuses Canterlot High of cheating by using magic. But Twilight couldn't control it, because the magic she collected turned into dark magic." Everyone gasped in horror because dark magic is a terrible art that could change a person, evil.

"Dark magic!" Kin said in outraged. "It is very dangerous to control it, I say the people from your world couldn't understand how it works," he said.

"Yeah, neither does Twilight. A powerful sphere was about to consume her, but I saved her because the Shadowbolts were too scared. Then Vault saved me before the sphere exploded, that's why I ended up in you're world." Connor finished explaining.

Everyone was shocked and felt sorry for him, while others were disgusted about terrible people who are trying to use magic, just to win a competition.

"Vault," said Celestine. "You are certain, that Connor is telling the truth," she said.

"Yes. He is," said Vault, much to Connor's relief.

"Thank you, and I don't know if I can go home. And I'm starting to think that Crystal Prep is gonna miss me." Connor said.

"Some people make mistakes young man," Charles spoked. "they may have done something that's unforgivable to you. But I am sure, they can be forgiven." he told him.

"Really, and by the way. You were frightened when I mentioned dark magic, what's that all about?" he questioned.

"Dark magic is very dangerous. It can be used from evil sorcerers, and also, Origa Discordia." Alicia explained which gives Luu Luu the shivers, just be thinking about her.

"Who's she?" Connor asked.

"She's a dark elf who rules the Black Fort from a barren land. Demonic beings and creatures that lived there ere given great power by the residual dark magic and took great advantage of their newfound strength by attacking various lands that surrounded the fortress. SHe's been at wat to Celestine for thousands of years." Vault explained.

"And what about you?" he questioned.

"I'm a mercenary she hired. Me and my men are the Black Dogs, and if the war is over, Celestine will pay us."

"But that's not all," spoked Claudia. "The High Elves had predicted long ago that their goddess would be reborn as a High Elf girl, Celestine Lucullus. The girl that she was reborn as had predicted the fortress' sudden appearance and the crisis it would create sooner than anyone else and was deemed holy by the Church, she also suggested that we should coexist with dragons. Celestine was placed in charge of one fortress while the other six countries in the alliance each called for their greatest warrior to lead the other fortresses." she explained.

"And now that you're here, you're gonna help us beat that dark elf." Luu Luu said with a grin.

"But. How would I do that?" said Connor.

"Well, the only way to fight Origa. Is to become, a Holy Knight." Charles said.

"A knight. Me!?" he surprisingly questioned.

"Come on. I'm sure it can be tough. But you'll get used to it." Maia smirked as she wrapped her arm around him, Connor was about to reply, but they lead him to the study. And soon, their gonna train him to become, the greatest knight Eostia has ever seen.


	4. An Empty Trophy Case

_Sunny Flare was walking across a steel footbridge that straddled two sides of a gorge. It was night time, the air was still but cool, and the stars were shining beautifully in the sky. One hundred feet below was a raging river, the sounds of the rapids scraping the rocks created a delightful contrast with the calm night._

_Sunny Flare happily inhaled through the nose, enjoying the brisk fresh air. She slowed her pace, and looked up at the stars, shining like gems that been woven into the sky. The night, it seemed, was being beautiful just for her..._

_BAM!_

_Sunny Flare heard a blast, but before she could see the source, she felt the bridge give out from under her. The span snapped in two. With quick thinking, she grabbed onto a bracing, closing her eyes in terror. When she opened them a few minutes later, her half of the bridge was dangling at a 90-degree angle. Down below, she saw the raging waters, their sounds now sounding like death instead of music._

_Behind her, Sunny heard a violent sound, almost like scraping metal. She turned and saw the other half of the bridge had collapsed into the river, the impact of the fall breaking the steel girders like they were dried sticks in a vice, which only added to her terror._

_Around Sunny, Storm clouds were gathering, and winds were picking up. She felt the broken half of the bridge she was clinging to her life sway in fierce gusts. The sound of thunder cracked, shaking the bridge slightly._

_Sunny saw the end of the bridge just six feet above her. It was so close, yet so agonizingly out of reach. Out of nowhere, a figure appeared heard the end. The person wore jeans and a black sweatshirt with a hood that hid his or her face._

_"Hey," screamed Sunny out of exhilaration, "can you please get me out of here." The figure went over the edge of the bridge and looked down at the dangling Sunny._

_"Do you have a rope or something you can throw me so I can be pulled up," Sunny asked hopefully. The person, his or her face covered in a dark hood, just looked down at Sunny._

_"Well," Sunny said impatiently, "don't just stand there staring. Help me?!"_

_"You've always expecting others to help you," the figure said in a low, menacing, and male voice, He pulled his hood, revealing brown hair, white skin, and blue, unforgiving eyes crying blood. "But you can't lift a finger for those who actually need it."_

_"Connor," Sunny uttered by the boy's tone, and the cold look in his eyes. "Please help me out!"_

_"Where were you when I need help?" Connor asked. The storms picked up, and the sound of fierce lightning began filling the cloudy sky. "When Cinch and the rest of the team pushed Twilight, you saw her distress at being forced into using magic. Yet. you. did, nothing!" A fierce thunderbolt clapped frightening Sunny._

_"I didn't know..." Sunny said weakly._

_"SHUT UP!" Connor yelled, his voice soundly like angry thunder. Sunny did just that. "You saw the vines and the portals, and yet that did not stop you from pushing Twilight into unleashing the magic."_

_"I just wanted to win," Sunny said._

_"Yes, you care more about victory than a human being," Connor said, his voice beginning to echo, and his demeanor becoming increasingly angry. "You proved that you're willing to kill someone for your own ambition."_

_"I didn't want you to die," Sunny said, the memory of that day, and the pain of holding onto a girder making her cry. "I'm sorry."_

_"No, you're sorry you couldn't rub your victory into everyone's faces," Connor growled. "You willingly murdered me for your own gain. And for that, you deserve nothing but the rocks below!"_

_"Please don't push me," Sunny screeched. "PLEASE!"_

_"No, I won't push you the same way you pushed poor Twilight," Connor stood up, and turned away, "but nor will I save you from the fate you so rightfully deserve."_

_"Connor please," Sunny said, more tears falling out of her eyes, as Connor walked away. A bolt of lightning lit up the end of the bridge in a flash, Connor was gone._

_Sunny screamed more and more as her wrist ached from holding the bracing. The storms kept picking up, the girders keeping the bridge attached to the canyon were bending more and more, making a loud grinding noise._

_BAM!_

_A lightning bolt struck at Sunny's hands, making her let go of the bracing. She screamed as she fell into the river below._

Sunny woke up with a loud scream, cold sweat all over her body. She was back in her room, in her nice soft bed. She laid back into bed, tears pouring from her eyes, terrified sobs coming from her mouth. She kept them quiet though. She didn't want to wake her parents. Sunny felt she didn't deserve their comfort.

_Friday Morning_

'It wasn't supposed to be like this,' Sugarcoat thought, as she left the parking lot to enter Crystal Prep. Friday was supposed to be the best day of any school week. When everybody was excited over the last day before the weekend. Doubly so, since after their expected victory at the Friendship Games, there was supposed to be a day-long party, in which they would celebrate their triumph.

But nobody liked to throw a party, during a day of mourning.

The students who had been to the Friendship Games looked like they saw a puppy cry. Well, they did see that, but they also witnessed someone be vaporized before their eyes because of their own selfish wants. The angry speech by the blonde-haired boy in which he told them the harsh but honest truth about them one that Sugarcoat would compliment, if not for the tragedy of the situation hung over their heads as well.

As Sugarcoat walked to class, she walked past the trophy case. It was a clear glass box that held all the great victories Crystal Prep had gotten. It was put on the wall in the front lobby, obviously to impress visitors. The section that was set up for this year's Friendship Games trophy was empty, despite the fact that Crystal Prep had won.

'The empty case is actually the perfect symbol of just how empty our victory was,' Sugarcoat thought as she made her way to class. She saw a crowd had gathered near the wall and were gawking at it, like a group of bystanders would gawk at a crime scene.

When she saw the wall, it was spray-painted with the word, "MURDERERS" in bright, bold red letters. Put there by some student from Canterlot, obviously. The accusation, despite it being directly at the school, proved too much for Sugarcoat, and she began sprinting away from it, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes.

She arrived at her physics class, and took a seat right next to Lemon Zest. The normally peppy girl looked like she had not slept, sad bags under her eyes. She wore her headphones, but instead o the rock music blaring from the phone, Sugarcoat heard a sad blues song. Lemon Zest, instead of her usual "dude," just gave a nod of the head, acknowledging Sugarcoat's presence.

"You look like you saw a morgue," is what Sugarcoat normally said when her friends were in a poor mood, but she realized that now was not the time for being blunt, and the quip was too appropriate. The girl looked like she was about to breakdown.

Mrs. Chalk came in and greeted the class, her usual authoritarian tones replaced with profound loss. She was a relatively short woman, who wore a uniform that combined the school dress code with some professionalism. Most of the students would usually greet her, but most were too upset to offer any greetings, even one that was half-hearted.

With that, the teacher jumped right to attendance. When she heard 'Twilight' and 'Connor' pop up, Sugarcoat and others instinctively looked to the front row desks and sighed. Twilight and Connor wasn't there. He would never be there again. She saw Lemon and a few other students had also looked at those tragically empty chairs, and sighed at their foolishness.

"Sorry," Mrs. Chalk said sheepishly. She looked at everyone, seeing their profound despair. "Look, I know you all are upset," she paused, trying to hold back tears, "but the world is still turning, and we need to keep going."

The teacher, of course, began by asking some questions about physics, almost rhetorically, since nobody would be able to answer these questions off the top of their heads. Well, except one.

_"Can anybody tell me what kind of orbit planets move in," Mrs. Chalk asked in her excited tone._

_"Rotation," Connor said._

_"Yes. But is there something else," she said.  
_

_"Ooh, ooh," Twilight said, waving her arm in the air excitedly. "I know, I know." The teacher hesitated for a minute, hoping someone other than her top student could answer the question. She sighed and gave up._

_"Yes. Miss Sparkle," she said in a disappointed tone, annoyed that no one else raised their hand._

_"Elliptical," Twilight said happily._

_"Very good," the teacher said happily. "The rest of you, take notes," she told the other students in an unimpressed tone._

_Twilight smiled at the teacher's praise like someone who had just won the lottery. She was oblivious to the jealous looks her classmates were giving her._

_"You two should become an encyclopedia," Sugarcoat said to Twilight and Connor, exasperated by the two egghead's profligate one-upping of everybody around her, "you'd be more interesting that way." Twilight and Connor's joy faded at Sugarcoat's barb._

Sugarcoat always felt jealous and annoyed with Twilight and Connor always trying to show off their smarts and relishing it. But now, hearing Twilight's excited voice and Connor's guesses would sound like music to her ears.

'You know a person grows on you when they go away and you miss their most annoying behavior,' Sugarcoat thought.

Suddenly, Mrs. Chalk's cell phone rang, and she paused her lecture to answer it.

"Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat," the teacher said. The two Shadowbolts lifted their heads. "Dean Cadence wants to speak to both of you." Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest stood up, and slowly walked out of the room.

Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat marched slowly toward the Dean's Office. They still remembered the tragic look in Cadence's eyes, seeing her favorite student die before her eyes, which is why they walked as slowly as they could. They could only imagine the punishment they were going to get.

They finally reached the Dean's Office. They walked in to see the Dean, her normal bright pink face the very image of solemness. They also saw her eyes were still puffy from tears. Then they also saw Twilight, who hadn't slept well last night.

'Selfish idiot," thought Sugarcoat, her mouth twitching, 'I killed her favorite student. I deserve it.'

"Sit," Cadence said, in a quiet but pained tone. Normally, she would say "please sit down," but it was clear Cadence was not in the mood to feel polite. Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest both sat down in the two chairs in front of them with Twilight, as if the pain from the Dean's words was like a giant hand that pushed them in. Sugarcoat and Lemon looked around. They saw on the desk is a phone, a melted shoe, a purple pendant, and on a filing cabinet, was the trophy that was supposed to be a sign of Crystal Prep's greatness.

Seeing Cadence trying to keep what remained of Connor was like a knife to the heart of the two Shadowbolts.

"Well, you're here," Cadence said quietly as she walked over to the door. Normally she would say "welcome," as a sign she was ready to help any student to asked. Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat saw her close the door. Usually, she kept it open, even when meeting a student, as a sign that she would lend an ear to anybody who asked. After closing it, she turned the lock and pulled sown the Shades, proving she was indeed not going to pull punches.

"Girls," Cadence said softly.

With that, Lemon Zest broke down in sobs.

"I'm so sorry," Zest said in a forlorn voice to Cadence. "I'm so sorry." She repeated over and over again, sobbing. Sugarcoat tried to keep in equanimity, but was straining to maintain it.

Cadence stared at Lemon Zest for a minute, before walking over to Lemon and... hugging the inconsolable girl, patting her on the back, and assuring her it wasn't. The sight of Cadence giving Lemon forgiveness the music-loving girl felt she didn't deserve was too much for the stoic Sugarcoat. She pulled off her glasses and began wailing and apologizing. Warm tears poured down her cheeks. Cadence saw this, and also gave her a warm hug, so did Twilight, assuring her she didn't blame her.

After a minute, their crying mostly subsided, and Cadence went back to her desk.

"Listen, I don't blame you girls," Cadence said in a soothing voice. Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest hung their heads in shame, and starting blinking their eyes and biting their lips to keep more tears from spilling out. "You didn't know. But if you still blame yourselves, there is something you can do to make it up to... him." She said this while glancing at Connor's and Twilight's possessions.

They lifted their heads to look at her, seeing kind, merciful eyes.

"What," asked Sugarcoat in a broken voice. "What can we do?" With that, Cadence handed the girls each some kind of form. Sugarcoat puts her glasses back on to read. Both Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest both looked at the forms, at first with a despondent disinterest. As they read more and more, their despondence was replaced with confusion. Then curiosity. Then astonishment. Then a mix of fear and amazement. The two Shadowbolts put the forms down, their faces full of anxiety.

"Are you sure this is gonna work," said Lemon Zest, with fear in her voice.

"This is a serious legal risk," Sugarcoat said, her voice also somewhat reluctant, but more professional than Lemon's.

"It can work," Cadence said, in a confident smile on her face, "as long as we work together."

For the first time in hours, Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest had brightened. As they signed the form, their expressions less inconsolable then before. Cadence took the forms from them and gave each girl a proud smile.


	5. An Ultimatum

Friday, noon.

Cinch sat at her office, her fingers working on the keyboard. Right now, she was typing up an E-mail to her lawyer. She looked at her screen with steely determination... when she wasn't still smarting over the blonde-haired boy's attack.

She let out a sob of pain and paused her typing to put an ice pack over her bruised cheek. She bit her busted lower lip, which hurt like a bee sting. Her left eye, blackened by that brat's attack, throbbed in pain. Cinch couldn't treat that without taking off her glasses and was forced to tolerate the agony.

_'Work through the pain Abie,'_ though Cinch with renewed determination, _'that Crystal Prep beast will get his proper punishment soon enough.'_

It was a simple assault case. There were plenty of witnesses, and there was no shortage of evidence. The thought just made her eye hurt even more.

_'If I'm lucky, he could even be tied as an adult,' _thought Cinch, _'and would thus be banned from any institute of higher learning once he gets thrown in jail.'_ A malevolent smile appeared on her face, imagining the scared look on the little brat's eyes once he was put in his place, and hauled off to a penitentiary.

Her vengeful thoughts were interrupted by the opening of her door. A look of annoyance appeared on her face. She hated unscheduled guests.

_'How many times do I have to make it clear to the student body, I can only be reached through appointments,' _she thought, exasperation ringing through her thoughts.

"Leave," Cinch said without looking up from her laptop, her busted lip turning her normally authoritative voice into an almost unintelligible lisp, "and fill out the check-in sheet on the door if you wish to meet..."

"Hey Cinch," Cinch looked up, and saw her Dean, an unusually cold look are her normally bright eyes.

"What is it Cadence," Cinch said, somewhat annoyed, "I am very busy..."

"You look horrible, Cinch," Cadence uttered in a tone of fake sympathy, "In other words, you look the same as you always do."

Cinch looked up at her Dean with a look of shock. Not at the barb, but that the fact that it came from her mouth.

"Excuse me," Cinch asked with some anger. She then relaxed and turned back to her computer, "well, if you want to trade barbs, we can do that later, I..." she paused as she saw Cadence walk over to the door to her office. Her pause turned to shock when she turned the lock on the door. In the professional world, locking the door was code for 'trouble on the horizon. Pay attention.'

Cadence calmly walked over the chair, the act of locking the door, giving the kindly Dean a bit of confidence. It unnerved Cinch a little.

"I know what your doing, Cinch," Cadence said calmly. "You're using work hours to get your lawyer to throw the book at Owen." Cinch narrowed her eyes at Cadence's intuition, but Cadence's face remained stoic. "You gloated about it in the teacher's lounge. We joked about how you sounded like a ten-year-old bully that wanted revenge," Cadence finished, with amusement in her tone.

"I merely am hoping this young, disturbed child learns proper matters," Cinch said, her attempt at faux-sincerity sounding terrible with her lisp. "Clearly, he needs correction..."

"Oh yes, because he punched you out, good times, good times," Cadence said with a huge grin. "Every time he landed on a blow on that thing on your head that resembles a face, an angel got its wings." Cinch looked particularly annoyed at that. Clearly getting attacked by a teenager was a sore spot for her, as it gave her... a lot of sore spots.

"Now let me ask you a question, Cinch, and I want you to save your answer till later," Cadence said, leaning toward her chair with a neutral. "How many of your students tried to pull Owen off of you?" Cinch paused for a second, but before she could reply, Cadence put her hand up. "I said, 'save your answer till later' Cinch. That's when it is going to matter."

Cinch minimized her window, and turned to Cadence, her undivided attention toward the now-smirking Dean.

"Since your a busy person," Cadence said, "I'll cut to the chase." Cadence reached into her leather briefcase and pulled out some kind of form. She handed the form over to Cinch, who looked at it over. Her bespectacled eyes widened in shock.

"Is this a joke," Cinch asked, a snarl on her face.

"No Cinch," Cadence said, her voice becoming ever sterner, "I was joking before. This is not a joke. Students dying in fires because you endangered them would never be considered a joke, except in your own twisted little mind."

"No student died because I..." Cinch paused to read the form she was handed. "...'ordered Conor Nickell onto a faulty motorbike under the threat of detention so he could win a competition.'" Cinch put down the form and glared at Cadence. "I would certainly never sign such a fabricated document. Why would I confess to something so blatantly untrue..."

"I remember taking you political science course Cinch," Cadence said with a nostalgic tone. "One thing I'll never forget was, when you wrote, 'truth is what the masses choose to believe, not what actually occurred' on the chalkboard. Despite my initial disbelief, I remembered that lesson very well, Cinch. And now I can apply that."

"What are you playing at," Cinch said, her voice becoming deeper and more hateful. Cadence silently pulled out a manila folder from her briefcase.

"In this folder," said Cadence, a wild grin on her face, "I have the signed confessions of... five students. Who admits that they made Connor do just that on your orders. I can't reveal their names, but they certainly had a bird's eye view of what you did." Cadence paused as Cinch's eyes widened in realization, and then narrowed in fury.

"Those Shadowbolt brats," Cinch bellowed. "You'd have them betray me-," she paused, "betray this institution and commit perjury!" Cadence maintained a sly grin.

"Oh Cinch," Cadence said with a fake chagrin, pulling out another, larger manila folder out of her briefcase. "You underestimate me," she said, pulling out a thick stack of documents. "I was able to get 60 students-little over half of our student body to, as you put it, 'commit treason', and admit to seeing you push Connor onto that faulty motorbike on threat on expulsion. And I did it in an hour too."

Cinch stared at the documents in anger.

"The faculty," Cinch uttered, "would surely defend their principle who brought great things to this-,"

"How many of those 'loyal' staff members gave you a hello this morning," Cadence replied. Cinch opened her mouth, then stopped, as she truly thought about it. She realized no one had given her a single greeting. "Mrs. Chalk, I recall, wanted to rip your throat out." Cinch's eyes widened. "I mean, when the top student of Crystal Prep dies," Cadence said, the word 'dies' being the most eerily quiet, "a student whose scores helped CPA become the highest ranked school in the county. The teachers won't think highly of the person responsible for that." Cadence smiled at Cinch's eyes, widened in fear.

"Surely the cameras recording the event would prove that such a thing did not happen," Cinch argued, albeit with less bluster than she had before.

"Well," Cadence said with boredom, "I spoke to the AV Club, and they said the recordings were somehow destroyed this morning." Cinch's eyes widened again, and her face turned red with rage.

"CONSPIRACY," Cinch yelled in a rage. "I give this school greatness, and they now conspire against me!" Cadence, however, remained unmoved at Cinch's growing fury.

"Now let me repeat my previous question, Cinch," Cadence said with a smirk. "Who among the student body and the faculty tried to save you from Owen's wrath?"

Cinch was confused about the question being repeated. But as she thought it over, much of the energy in her faded from her. She hung her head and stared at her desk, like someone who had been kicked off a sports team. The room was silent for a few moments.

"Well," Cadence asked, her smirk becoming more malicious. Cinch muttered something unintelligibly.

"I'm sorry, what was that," Cadence said, "speak up!"

"No one," Cinch said, sounding like a wounded animal in an abusive kennel.

"Who among the student body and staff would defend you against this so-called conspiracy," Cadence asked.

"No one," Cinch said, in a much quieter, fatalistic tone as the realization donned on her. She looked back at Cadence, some desperate hope appearing on her. "The school board wouldn't by this nonsense, I've done so much-,"

"Actually," Cadence said, her tone almost gloating. Her smirk became a wide smile, as she prepared to dig the knife deeper, and pulled out another form, "once they heard about how Connor died, and saw how so many people were aligned against you, they realized they needed another form." Cadence slapped the form down on her. "They are suggesting that you resign your position."

"Those ingrates," Cinch said, her voice becoming manic, "I made their school great, and now they throw me under the bus! They have no loyalty to anything but-,"

"Let me finish," Cadence said, her voice immediately ending Cinch's tirade. "They, in turn, made a call to the District Attorney." Cinch's jaw dropped, and she started trembling with fear. "They agreed that there is a strong case against you for manslaughter." Cinch's trembling got even worse, and her eyes looked like that of a deer that saw a rifle pointed toward it.

"However, the school board would prefer to let sleeping dogs lie, as the saying goes." Cadence than handed out another document. "The DA is giving you a plea deal. You can confess to negligence, in lieu of prosecution for manslaughter. The only thing you'd have to give up is, well, your teaching license," Cadence finished in an unsettlingly cheerful tone.

Cinch stood there, staring dumbly at the confession she would have to sign, as the whole situation dawned on her. She then stood up from her desk, pacing around in a daze. That was understandable. Having your career destroyed in a matter of minutes would shock anybody. Cadence looked at the woman with pitiless eyes.

Cinch walked behind her desk, her eyes devoid of joy. Her daze was broken as she looked at the shelf to her right, and saw a souvenir. A crazed smile appeared on her face.

"Well, Cinch, what's it going to be," asked Cadence, "I haven't got all-," Cadence's taunt was cut off by the sound of screaming. She saw Cinch running toward her, a silver dagger in her hand.

"TRAITOR," Cinch bellowed, all pretenses of civility within her gone as she ran toward the Dean, eager to stick a knife in the pink woman's gut. Cadence, however, remained calm in the face of danger. With a smooth motion, she jumped up from her chair and slammed her leather briefcase into Cinch's face knocking the glasses off of her face. Cadence then used her energy to yank sit by the arm, knocking her to the ground.

Cinch laid there in a daze, her nose now throbbing with pain, along with the other parts of her face. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted by her arms she struggled, but couldn't get them loose.

"Now listen to me, Cinch," the injured woman hear cadence say behind her, her calm voice becoming a growl. But due to being grabbed from behind by the arms, she couldn't turn around and see. In this position, Cadence sounded less like a person and more like a vengeful specter.

"First of all, you have no right to talk about loyalty," Cadence said, her voice dripping with hatred, "when you betrayed me and him. I trusted you, and you got him killed for a stupid game!" She twisted Cinch's wrists, who let out a sob of pain. "You can sign the confession and leave here quietly, or you can fight in court, with no one ready to help you, and end up in jail. What's it going to be Cinch, the easy or the hard way?"

"I'll sign," Cinch said suddenly, her voice sounding almost pitiful, "now let me go."

"I'm not finished," Cadence said, still fuming. "After you sign, you're going to leave this office, and spend the rest of the day in the detention room. Just to make sure you can't hurt another student again."

"It's my room until the end of the day," Cinch protested, sounding like a five-year-old wanting to keep her toy as long as possible, "I am still principle-," her protest ended as she felt her wrist being twisted again, her voice replaced by another pitiful sob of agony. "Okay," she yelled, tears of fear leaking down her face. She felt herself pulled up, and then violently shoved toward her desk.

She looked at the desk, feeling Cadence angrily glaring at her from behind. She feebly picked up a pen and signed the confession. After writing her signature, she let the pen fall out of her hand.

"Now get out," Cadence snarled "and march yourself to the detention room."

"I still have personal items here," Cinch replied in a broken voice.

"Don't worry, Cinch," Cadence said with false sympathy, "I'll make sure every trace of your existence here is removed." Cinch didn't even reply, marching out the door like a sad robot, not even bothering to close the door.

Once the door was shut, Cadence collapsed into Conch's chair with a sigh, thankful that her bluff worked. Now that Cinch was gone, she could now make the phone call she desperately wanted to make.

"Hello Luna," Cadence said into the phone, "It's done." She paused as Luna congratulated her. "Now, it is time for you to fulfill your end of the bargain..."


	6. Becoming a Knight

The Shield Princesses and the others are taking Connor to the mountains to train him and to become a Holy Knight. Alicia tripped, but Connor caught her, and both of them looked at each other for a moment.

"Uh, thank you," said Alicia, as she blushed.

"No, problem," said Connor as he also blushed. They continued the journey and at the center of the mountain, a grassy landscape that's perfect for knight training.

Connor is now sparring, with Vault where the latter isn't nervous about fighting a child.

"I'm bigger, stronger, and having a bit of facial hair," said Vault.

Connor ran at Vault to struck him, but Vault avoided the blow and knocked Connor down, he got back up and tried again. But Vault blocked Connor's attack.

"Your anger is you're only weakness. Control it, and you won't get killed," he said. Connor and Vault clashed swords for a while when Vault got the upper hand. He kicked Connor. In the nether regions. "And don't forget to protect the crown jewels." Connor groaned in pain of the kick in the balls as William cringed at it.

"This is gonna get interesting," said William.

Connor was doing pretty well in his training, and never gave up when it comes to fighting evil.

Connor dodged a few rocks while keeping balance as well, as reading books of knighthood and training dragons.

Not to mention, training with the princesses. Where Kaguya is calm while deflecting one of Connor's sword attacks. Within a few hours, Connor turned out to be quite the charmer, until the last part of his training.

"Alright, Connor. Let's see what you've learned today," said Alicia.

It appears they brought that black dragon with them for Connors training.

"Yeah, that's a Night Fury," said Connor. "Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, and I need to earn its trust." he said.

Connor slowly moved to the Night Fury, but the dragon glared at him. To prove that Connor's not a threat. He removed the sword and dropped it.

Connor extended his hand and closed his eyes, and the dragon came toward him and slowly placed his muzzle on Connor's hand. Training, the Night Fury.

"So, now that you trained the Night Fury. What are you gonna name him?" said King Charles. By the loon on Connor's face staring at the Night Fury's appearance, Connor knows what to name him.

"Shade. Because shadows give people shade," Connor said, and he glanced at the others. "Is there something more to learn," he questioned. And this made everyone smiled and smirked.

But what they didn't know is that someone is watching them through a magical staff.

She was a tall 5'10", young woman, at least going by her appearance, and had skin that was an amazingly mesmerizing dark brown. She had long, midnight black hair, that easily stretched down to her black high heeled shoes, and long knife length ears that had three gold earrings each.

She wore a black and gold multi-sectioned cape with an amazingly crafted purple crown, and to match it. She wore a shoulder-less corset that managed to cover her E-cup breasts and her mid-body and a purple skirt. She had purple leggings and armbands and held a staff with a red jewel embedded in between the curved top of her staff.

Her amber eyes looked at them as she sat cross-legged on her throne, giving off an air of mature authority and majesty. This woman is the Black Queen of the Fortress, Origia Discordia.

"Hmm. A new Holy Knight, how interesting," said Origa as she smirked.

Knowing that someday, she's gonna face him.


	7. Memorials and Confusion

Friday, 12:15 PM

Canterlot High School

Around the non-afternoon transition, school cafeterias were usually the most energetic place in town. Students would pick at their lunches while chatting with close friends about a gamut of personal subjects, from dating to sports.

Canterlot High School's cafeteria was normally the rule, not the exception. At this time, the room would echo the chatter of dozens of hungry students.

But today, the sad quiet hung over the students. Yesterday's Friendship Games were supposed to be about them finally triumphing against their hated foe, Crystal Prep Academy. They hoped on Friday; they would get to gloat about finally getting one over the spoiled elites of CPA, and enjoying a party hosted by Pinkie Pie.

Instead, they were spending the day mourning the death of a young boy. While following Owen's lead and walking out of the Games out of sheer contempt for CPA's selfish blunder gave the students of measure of pride, it didn't take little to change the fact that an innocent had died.

The room was quiet as if Principal Celestia had forced the entire student body into detention. Almost no mirthful conversation occurred, and whatever dialogue occurred was small talk said almost in a daze.

Few ate, with most staring at their food with inconsolable expressions, and those that did eat consumed their sustenance like robots, done out of obligation to bodily needs, and not of enjoyment of food.

At this time, five students walked in, students that looked more miserable than any other students. The Rainbooms, sans Sunset Shimmer, calmly sat down at their usual table. Like the rest of the students, they barely picked at their lunches and sat in silence, still reeling over the events of the previous night. After a few minutes, they finally attempted to make small talk.

"So," said Rainbow Dash quietly, "have you guys seen Sunset?"

Everyone shook their heads. Dash sighed in sorrow.

"Has she answered your calls," Rainbow Dash asked. "Everybody again shook their heads. "I've tried reaching her three times, and she hasn't picked up. She also hasn't replied to my texts."

"She's really broken up by this," muttered Fluttershy, her normally sweet voice no less solemn then Rainbow's.

"What do you expect," Applejack drawled, "that school of lowlifes made Twilight use magic, and look what happened." Applejack exhaled through her nose like an angry bull and narrowed her eyes, a desire to beat up those Shadowbolts flowing through her mind.

"After school, we'll all pay dear Sunset a visit," Rarity exclaimed, "to try and lift her spirits."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Pinkie Pie muttered in an unusually taciturn tone. Normally, Pinkie would gush at the chance to live up someone's day, but she was not feeling very festive. She didn't even jump into her lunch like she normally did like she was in an eating contest. She just poked her food with a fork. Their stillness of the cafeteria was broken by the sound of the intercom.

"The following students must report to the Main Office immediately," Vice Principal Luna in the intercom. "Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie." The sad stillness was broken as every student turned toward the Rainbooms in anxiety and fear. Every student knew that being called directly to the Main Office by intercom, rather than through a teacher, meant something serious had happened. But when all of the Rainbooms were being called in at once to the Main Office, it meant trouble, usually of a magical variety, was on the horizon. And it was probably tied to last night's events.

The Rainbooms knew this too, and they quickly pulled themselves out of their sorrowful stupor. They jumped from the metal benches they sat on, and hurried over to the Main Office, with everybody in the room nervously gawking at them.

The Main Office

Vice Principal Luna sat at her desk tiredly as she awaited the arrival of the Rainbooms, the bluff she and Cadence pulled still reeling on her mind and making her think back to recent events in frustration. When she chose to follow Celestia into education, she never imagined that part of the job description would involve babysitting a bunch of magical teenagers, and fighting demons and evil sirens.

She also never thought she'd be a party to perjury and conspiracy. She lowered her head in annoyance. And her mouth twisted into a disgusted frown. Yes, she knew lying was necessary. Cinch clearly had no concern for the safety of her students and had to be removed. The horrible sight of Connor as he was consumed by the magical sphere of death still echoed through her mind, and she would be darned sure she would never hear it again, as would Cadence.

But there was no way to get rid of Cinch legally without the existence of a magical dimension to a world largely unprepared to deal it. It required getting two student bodies to testify to a more believable untruth and burying evidence. Being forced to lie to authorities was never a fun thing to do. Only career criminals and the insane could get off on manipulating the law. Normal people would feel sick doing it.

Celestia herself also didn't feel good either, having to lie to the District Attorney. Maybe that's why she insisted on taking a day off.

Luna was broken from her introspection by the arrival of the Rainbooms, her mind returning to pressing matters. They all looked at her with worrying expressions.

"Principal Luna," said Rainbow Dash, her normally brash voice worried, "what's going on."

Luna sighed and pulled out a photograph and shoved in front of them. Fluttershy took the picture in her hands and held it up high enough for her friends to see. What they saw stunned them.

"Sugarcoat," Indigo Zap said forcefully, running to her companion as she was pulling some books out of her locker.

"What is it," Sugarcoat asked, her mood somewhat lifted by the news if Cinch's dismissal, but it meant she was back to her usual stoic self.

"You're not going to believe this," Indigo Zap said with confusion.

"Cinch was a humanitarian prize," Sugarcoat replied in a deadpan expression. Indigo chuckled a merciless laugh. With Cinch being forced to sit in the detention room, shots at their soon-to-be-gone-witch-of-a-Principal were now twice as funny.

"No," Indigo Zap said, her voice became somewhat hesitant. "Some of our friends drove to that cafe near Canterlot High. They texted me this picture." She pulled out her smartphone. The image that Sugarcoat almost made her jaw drop.

Sugarcoat erected a memorial statue to Connor at Canterlot on the Southern wall. Even though it was made from cheap dry clay and was unpainted, it captured the dimensions of their teammate perfectly.

Sugarcoat stared at the photo, and soon her eyes began to narrow as her mind filled with sadness and confusion.

"Why is Canterlot mourning Connor harder than us," Sugarcoat asked, her voice a little guilty and aggravated. "He didn't even go there."

"I have no clue," Sunny Flare said, her voice anxious.

"Those CHS punks are always known for being goody-two-shoes," Sugarcoat quipped. Indigo Zap looked annoyed but quickly shoved it down. "But seriously, why are they doing more than we're doing. He was our-," she paused, trying to avoid breaking down.

"Maybe we should get the art department to make something too," Sunny Flare said, her voice filled with guilt and a newfound sense of duty.

"Yeah sure," said Sugarcoat, her deadpan tone replaced the same sense of duty. She walked away to her next class, her heightened mood weakened by the fact that a rival school was honoring Crystal Prep's formal student more than they did.

_'They definitely were nicer to him then we were,'_ Indigo Zap thought angrily, _'but building a statue for someone they barely knew? Those people were too good for this world.'_

"I thought you girls said that the Twilight we saw yesterday was not the Princess, but her human counterpart," said Luna civilly, but with a hint of annoyance.

"She wasn't," protested Rainbow Dash, "Princess Twilight is still in Equestria."

"Well, most students didn't get that message apparently," repliedLuna, the chagrin in her voice becoming stronger. "In the music room, I heard that Flash is playing the guitar and singing a song about a dead Princess."

"Oh boy," muttered Applejack, face-palming.

"If Sunset were here, she would be able to deal with this rumor," muttered Rarity. Nowadays, when it came to magic in this school, Sunset's word was final. She could stop any magic rumor in its tracks.

"That's then second thing I wanted to talk to you guys about," said Luna, her voice becoming more grave. "I need you guys to go visit Sunset."

"We were already planning on doing that after school," said Pinkie Pie.

"I need you guys to go now," Luna said in a firm tone.

"Why?" asked Fluttershy.

"Sunset didn't call in sick like she was supposed to if she couldn't come in. I tried calling and texting her, and she didn't respond." Luna paused. "I'm worried about her. But I also need to talk to her."

"To deal with the rumors about Princess Twilight," asked Rarity.

"Partly that," Luna replied. "But also, Cadence wants answers about what happened to...Connor. Sunset is the only one who can really give her answers. Cadence wants to meet her personally."

"But Luna," Fluttershy said, "Sunset was really upset about what happened. I don't know if you remember, but Owen was clearly crying. Neither of them is in any shape to..."

"Well, maybe she should stop whining, and remember how Celestia and I have bent over backward to help her," Luna spat unkindly. The Raibooms were shocked by their Principal losing her patience. Luna noticed this and sighed dejectedly.

"Look, girls," Luna said sadly, "I'm upset too about what happened, and feel horrible for Sunset. If it were my choice, I'd let Sunset mope. But understand what Cadence is going through. Connor wasn't just her favorite student. She's Human Twilight's sister-in-law." The Rainbooms looked horrified by that. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked ready to cry. "The woman just saw her surrogate brother vanish before her eyes. She deserves to understand why, if not now." Luna paused for a minute, trying to fight tears. "She was able to get Cinch out of the door without telling anyone about magic, but in return, she wants the truth." She paused again to rub her temples, the stress of it all weighing down on her. The Rainbooms understand the sorrow of that poor woman and nodded respectfully.

"I want two of you girls to go to her house," Luna saw them object and raised her hand. "Don't worry about the classes. I'll clear everything up with your teachers. If Sunset can't answer the phone, then she is in a mess. So, cheer her up, and when she is calm, I'll give Sunset the time, place, and date of when Cadence wants to speak to her. And get her on the CHA group chat, and tell her to clear everything about Princess Twilight."

"I'll go help Sunset cheer her up," Pinkie Pie declared her voice was becoming unusually serious. Pinkie Pie's face was like that of a brave soldier about to embark on a serious military objective. Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out a yellow balloon, blew air into it, and made a ballon giraffe, and yet somehow remaining dignified and stern.

"I'll go too," Fluttershy said, her soft voice becoming somewhat quiet. "I'll help Sunset get back on her feet."

"Thank you," Luna said, a bit of relief. She turned to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. "And can you guys try and deal with these rumors as well."

"Of course," the three said in unison.

Luna looked at these girls with a proud smile as they walked out. Despite all the trouble, they brought with them because of their magic. She wouldn't trade them for the world. They had their quirks. They were indeed the best people to have to watch your back. Maybe Princess Twilight was right. Friendship is magic.

Canterlot Statue

The portal to Equestria glowed brightly as someone flew out in a purple blur. Most people who came through the portal collapsed in a hope. But the individual had already made previous trips and landed on the green near the horse statue with grace. Her eyes, however, showed both concern and anger.

"Oh, Celestia," Princess Twilight said to herself as her vision cleared out from the transdimensional voyage. "I hope you guys are OK!"


	8. Guitars, Sorbet, and a Cloudy Sunset

Princess Twilight's head darted from left to right as if she's searching for some potential threat. Her face was like that of a paranoid snake, waiting for some foe to strike her down. Her fists were clenched, showing she was ready to take on the threat if necessary, magic or not.

She wandered around, trying to find something... unusual. She couldn't sense anything untoward, the school looked normal. She glanced around her classmates. _'They don't look brainwashed,'_ She thought. But as she observed, they looked very, very, downcast. They looked like somebody died. Twilight pulled out her special notebook and stared at it intensely.

"Sunset," Twilight said to herself, "I hope your OK." She saw the human version of Lyra walk past the statue, her face also in mourning like everypony... everybody else.

"Hey, Lyra," Twilight asked urgently, greeting the mint-haired girl.

"Hey, Twilight," Lyra said in an unhappy tone, pausing to look at her with an utterly broken expression, before turning away to continue her walk. Twilight's eyes widened in concern. She ran up to the downcast girl.

"What happened," Twilight asked in a sympathetic voice, "did something dangerous attack the school?"

"No," Lyra said, her voice coming out like a sob, "it's just-," Lyra stopped walking and did a double-take. She stared at Twilight like she was seeing a clone, to the Princess' confusion. Lyra then walked over to Twilight and started poking her, leaving the pony princess speechless.

"Are. You. real?" Lyra asked in a curious whisper, still poking the pony-turned-human.

"Uh-," Twilight said in growing confusion.

"Are. You. real?"

"Well-," Twilight asked, her calm voice becoming some impatient with Lyra's astonishment and the poking.

"Are. you-,"

"WILL YOU STOP THAT," Twilight yelled, slapping away Lyra's poking finger. "can you stop beating around the bush and-," Twilight paused when she saw Lyra was beginning to cry tears. Not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy.

"You're not a clone," Lyra said in a gregarious, but tiny voice. She ran over to TYwilight and gave her a hug, "you're here!" she continued to weep bitterly.

"Yes, I'm here," Twilight said, uncomfortable with Lyra's hug.

"You're here," Lyra said happily.

"Yes, I'm here," Twilight said stoically.

"You're here," Lyra repeated in a happier tone.

"Yes, I'm here," Twilight said, pushing Lyra away, "Here's another obvious fact. The sky is blue. Can you tell me-?"

"How did you create that purple orb thingy," Lyra asked.

"What purple orb thingy," Twilight asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Why were you at Crystal Prep?"

"What's Crystal Prep?"

"Do they have laser eye surgery in Equestria," Lyra asked.

"What's laser eye-," Twilight paused at this girl's seemingly random questions.

Back home, Bon Bon joked Lyra seemingly lined in another world, and that her existence could create more questions than answers.

Apparently, this was the universal law for the Lyra of _any_ world.

"OK, Lyra," she said forcefully, "it was nice seeing you. Have a good day." Realizing she was not going to get answers from this ditz, Twilight turned around and walked away.

"But wait," Lyra asked excitedly, "I wanted to know your secret of making clones."

Twilight walked away even more quickly from the silly girl; her mind reeling from her bizarre questions. She looked around to ask the other students, but suddenly she had a feeling that to get answers she was looking for, she had to find Sunset or one of the human versions of her friends.

As she walked by, she saw the other students gathering around the western wall of the CHS building. Curious, she wandered over and saw, in front of the building, Flash and his band were performing some kind of concert, as a massive crowd had gathered around him. For a while, Twilight's frustration gave way to excitement. She was excited to hear Flash perform on his guitar, and could spare a few minutes to hear him play. She hoped to maybe go out with him once she found out about the problem.

But to her confusion, the crowd wasn't in a rock 'n' roll mood. They, too, also looked as somber as Lyra had been. To her concern, Flash himself didn't look particularly happy or excited.

"Hey," Flash said into the microphone, his voice sounding like someone who was grieving. "Thanks for coming. We are all here to celebrate a really special girl. A girl who brought joy and magic wherever she went, and a boy who," Flash paused as if trying to hold back tears, "a boy who sadly was taken from us too soon." The solemn quiet hung over the audience.

Twilight, who stood at the edge of the crowd, felt tears pour from her eyes.

_'Someone did die,'_ she thought to herself. She looked at her two-way notebook. _'Was it Sunset?'_

"So to love that boy we started to love and admire, let's give him one last song." He looked at his band members. "Three, two, one."

On the roof, Twilight saw Snips and Snails, pushing a roll of canvas off of it. It fell, revealing a sight that stopped Twilight's mourning. Once the fabric unraveled, it revealed a massive poster of her Fall Formal picture over the white canvas. To her growing confusion, a black colored caption read "RIP." Once the poster settled on the wall, Flash began playing his guitar.

_"Twilight, your burned bright, like_ a_ star in the sky," _Flash sang his energetic voice now filled with a soulful sadness, _"but then you burned out, without saying goodbye."_

Twilight stood there rooted in shock, as she saw her human coltfriend, mourning someone else.

"Oh, this is not good," Applejack groaned as she walked out into the courtyard, and witnessed Twilight-Pony Twilight, went into Connor's-memorial concert. Rainbow Dash looked horrified.

"Great," Dash barked as they walked around the crowd, "now everybody is going to believe our Twilight's friend kicked the bucket no matter what we do. If only we could get in touch with her." They walked by the person furthest from the crowd, noticing she had purple and lavender hair.

Wait.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash paused and looked at the girl. They saw the same familiar lavender purple skin, the familiar blue blouse, and pink necktie, the familiar purple skirt with the pink, or fuchsia, six-pointed star on her.

It was pony Twilight, not Human Twilight. But even knowing that it was the other Twilight that had almost perished, they still looked at her like they had seen a clone. It hadn't helped that Pony Twilight looked as still as a statue.

Eventually, Rainbow hesitantly reached a hand over to Twilight's shoulder.

"Twilight," Rainbow said quietly, taping her index pony-turned-human on her shoulder. She turned around in fright, her trance broken, and saw the Terran version of her friends.

"Guys, thank Celestia your here, I-," Twilight paused when she saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack giving her the same look of astonishment Lyra had given her, and she was getting tired of it.

She let out a frustrated scream and angrily seized Rainbow Dash by her shirt, which broke the shocked look on her face with fear.

"Why does everybody think I'm a clone," Twilight yelled, gritting her teeth and shaking Rainbow.

"I-," Rainbow began.

"Why is Flash up there on stage mourning some boy?!"

"I-,"

"Where's Sunset?!"

"But-,"

"Why was the portal shut down for nine-?!" Twilight stopped her angry questioning as she felt strong arms pull her away from Rainbow Dash. She looked behind her and saw Applejack doing the pulling.

"Slow down, Sally," Applejack barked. Twilight took a deep breath and sighed.

"Sorry, Rainbow, but I'm desperate for answers as to what is going on," she said regretfully.

"It's OK, Twilight," Rainbow said, a reassuring smile appearing on her face, "See, the thing is-," Rainbow's words died in her throat as she heard that the music just stopped, as did Applejack and Twilight. They slowly turned to the crowd, all of whom were now silently staring at Twilight. Up on stage, Flash's jaw dropped in utter shock. His hand became so limp, his microphone fell out of it toward the ground. For several moments, the crowd continued to gape at Twilight, who stood there in utter confusion, seeing the same astonishment look on Lyra on everybody's face. But the silence was quickly broken by an excited squeal.

"The Princess is here," cried a sad and joyful female voice. With that, the crowd of students began surrounding Twilight, crying, cheering, and trying to hug her.

"Twilight, your here," cried one male voice.

"Yes, well-," Twilight uttered in confusion.

"How did you come in here," asked a female voice.

"What's your secret to create clones," asked a male voice.

"I-," Twilight tried to speak, but her voice couldn't carry over the sound of her cheering human classmates. Suddenly, she felt she was being pulled into a tight hug.

"Twilight," she heard Flash's voice and felt two strong arms hug her. She turned around and saw Flash, worried tears falling down his cheeks, "I thought you left. How did you-," whatever questions Flash had were lost as she felt Twilight being pulled away from his strong embrace by an annoyed Rainbow Dash

"Move it, get lost, out of the way," Rainbow barked as she leads Twilight out of the mob of eager students that surrounded her.

"Rainbow, what-,"

"Listen, we'll explain everything, but right now, I've got to take you to see Sunset."

"Where is she," Twilight asked, concerned.

"She's at her apartment," Rainbow said with a sad sigh.

"Why don't we, um... call her on the, um," Twilight muttered.

"Phone?"

"Yes, those phone things you humans have," Twilight asked. Rainbow smiled a little, amused at her magically advanced friend's ignorance of human technology.

"She's not picking up," Rainbow said ruefully, "and I think what we have to tell you needs to be said face to face."

The crowd looked confused and annoyed at Twilight leaving so soon, and began pursuing her, eager for answers. They stopped when they saw Applejack blocking their way.

"Everybody, please stop," Applejack yelled, crossing her arms and giving the crowd a stern look. "I know y'all have questions for the Princess. But she needs to see Sunset right now," that immediately got the crowd to hush up. Discussion between the Princess and Sunset were seen as a major priority since they obviously involved some magical mishap. "I promise y'all that once they talk, she'll explain what happened." With that, the crowd dispersed. "And can someone take that poster down," Applejack demanded. On the roof, Snips and Snails worked to pull the poster up, straining under the weight of the canvas.

At the parking lot, Applejack had caught up with Rainbow and Twilight, who were approaching Rainbow's sky blue sedan.

"OK," Twilight said to Rainbow, "let's get it-," the conversation the two were having was cut off by the sound of panting. They saw Flash running over to them. He stopped and doubled over, breathing heavily. Twilight walked over to him and hugged him as he looked like he was about to collapse.

"Twilight," Flash said between breaths, "I don't know what happened to you, but since your here, why can't we hang out?"

"Sorry, Flash," Applejack said, "Twilight has to talk to Sunset."

"But she just got-,"

"Flash, wait until she gets back."

"Wait," Twilight said, "who says he can't come with us. Your car has four seats, right?" She then took Flash's hand in hers and gave him a warm smile, which helped Flash relax. "Besides, despite all the craziness I've seen, I kind of want to hang out with him too."

"Well," Rainbow paused, but then realized there was no real reason why Flash couldn't come. "Alright," Rainbow said, pointing to a car door, "get in, you lovebirds." Dash entered the driver's seat, while Applejack rode shotgun.

Flash opened the right car door for Twilight.

"Oh, a gentleman," Twilight crooned, looking at Flash with playful eyes.

"You're a princess," Flash said in a posh voice, "it is unbecoming of you to have to put your beautiful hand upon a door." Twilight chuckled.

"You are such a dork," she said as she entered Rainbow's car. Their romantic gaze was broken by the sound of wrappers and crunched soda cans as they sat down. They looked in the car, and they saw the seats and floor covered with candy wrappers, potato chip bags, and cans of cola. Twilight and Flash looked around, their faces full of disgust at the unsanitary conditions inside Rainbow's vehicle.

"Uh Rainbow," Twilight asked, annoyed, "have you ever heard of the concept of cleaning-what-the-," Twilight felt something sticky on her backside. She felt around behind her, and pulled away a half-eaten cinnamon bun, to her and Flash's disgust. "Rainbow, you are a pig!" Twilight barked at the prism-haired girl. "I shouldn't be surprised," Twilight said with a sigh. "my Rainbow was a complete slob."

Rainbow turned around and saw Twilight bearing the partially-eaten and abandoned pastry.

"Oh, I've been looking for that," Rainbow said happily and took the abandoned dessert from Twilight. She shoved it into her mouth.

"Oh, that's sick," Flash uttered in annoyance.

"It's delicious," Rainbow said.

"When are you going to clean this car," Twilight asked, her perfectionist nature being compromised by the debris surrounding.

"When will the planets align," quipped Rainbow Dash as she started to turn the key. In the corner, Applejack gave only mild hints of annoyance at the filthiness inside.

Sour Sweet sat in Scoop's Ice Cream Palace. She went there usually to celebrate something, or to mourn. Today she was in a mourning mood. Surrounding her were six empty bowls with spoons. Right now, she was devouring her seventh bowl of her favorite raspberry sorbet, eating like a convict that was enjoying his or her last meal.

Right now, she was in a very introspective mood. Thinking about the competition, about her classmate, about the harsh truth of a blonde-haired boy.

_"You don't even give it to your own teammate! You put her in danger, and made her unleash something none of you could control just because you wanted to win! How selfish and stupid are you, people!"_

The thought made her stuff her face with more sorbet. As she felt the sorbet melt in her mouth, she again thought of her teammates.

_What are you an idiot, get to the end of the line._

_Those pathetic nerds could barely run a lap, let alone do an obstacle course._

She spooned more sorbet into her face.

_The girl was a complete idiot when it came to archery. She couldn't hit water if she fell out of a boat, let alone a target._

Another spoonful of sorbet entered her gullet.

_Man, don't you know not to trust the enemy. And you're letting them give you advice! Fool!_

But that Apple girl turned out to not be trying to cheat. She helped Twilight, even if it meant her team could move to the next round.

_'That girl was nicer to Twilight than I was,' _Sour thought to herself, _'and I was supposed to be their teammate.' _With that thought, Sour put her spoon down, and put her hands over her eyes, trying to stop anyone from seeing her cry. Once she had stopped the waterworks, she left the table for another bowl.

"Scoop," she said to the server of ice cream at the counter. "Another," she said, holding a fresh new bowl out.

"Sour," the server said carefully, "I think you've had enough."

"Thank you for your concern," Sour said sweetly. She then grimaced. "I'll tell you when I've had enough!"

Scoop sighed, took the bowl, and reluctantly gave Sour another helping of raspberry sorbet.

After that last bowl, Sour walked out of the ice cream store, ready to go back to school. Despite her stomach being full of sorbet, she still felt empty.

To get back to her car, she had to cross the road to get to the parking lot. She waited, somewhat angrily, for the cars to stop, and for the passenger light to go from red to white.

Suddenly, the traffic light flashed red, forcing the cars to stop. To her annoyance, the pedestrian light continued to be red, despite the fact that the cars had stopped.

Sour Sweet, remembering her doctor's advice, just took a deep breath to deal with her impatience. Unable to use her phone, because of the lack of wifi outside of the Palace, she distracted herself by glancing at the cars. The car in front of the traffic light was all blue, and the driver had rainbow-haired-

Wait.

Speak of the devil. It was that rainbow-haired girl from the Games. Next to her was the goody-two-shoes Apple girl. Seeing her made Sour feel guilty. Behind her was some handsome guy with blue hair. Next to him was-

Sour rubbed her eyes and looked again. It appeared that the Rainbow-haired girl noticed her, and was looking at her like a kid trying to hide the fact she broke his mom's vase. The Apple girl and the blue-haired dreamboat also waved at her and gave her a sheepish smile. The blue-haired guy looked like he was trying to pin...someone down. But she couldn't see.

Sour heard a ring and saw that she was allowed to cross, but just as she was about to, the rainbow girl speed away, ignoring the light that was still red, and swerved to avoid a car coming from the right, an angry honk coming from the car that was nearly hit.

Sour looked at the direction that Rainbow head went into, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Let me up," screamed Twilight as she finally pushed Flash off of her. "Why did you order Flash to tackle me!" she yelled at Applejack.

"Well," Applejack said sheepishly, "that girl with the yellow face... she can't see you right now."

"Why?!"

"Sunset will explain everything," Applejack thought about something. "Right now, you need to lay low." She put her finger to her chin. "In fact," she dug threw the garbage around her feet, pulled out a mask, and shoved it on twilight's head.

"What did you shove on my head," Twilight asked.

"A mask," Applejack.

"Why," Twilight asked. She heard Flash snickering. She turned toward him in a rage and quickly seized his chuckling.

"You tackle me like that again Flash," Twilight warned in an even voice, "and I'll banish you to the moon for 1,000 years."

Flash continued at the threat, but then remembered Twilight was a magical princess and that meant she could do the impossible. He clammed up and sat in silence.

_Sunset was walking down along a grassy field on a sunny day, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin. Though not nearly as comforting as Celestia's sun had once been, she still relished the warm weather._

_"Help me," cried a scared voice._

_Sunset was broken from her enjoyment of the weather by the cry for help. The fire-haired girl ran in the direction of the scream. She saw Connor, Connor Nickell, being stalked by some flying, shadow monster._

_"Connor," Sunset screamed, compassion and desperation in her voice, "run toward me, I can help you!"  
_

_Connor looked at her, but instead of running toward Sunset, Connor screamed even louder and ran away from her direction._

_"Connor," Sunset screamed, "why are you running from me-," the shadow monster threw a fireball in Connor's direction. Connor let out a bloodcurdling scream as it hurt him and exploded. When Sunset's vision cleared, all she saw what remained of Connor was a charred skeleton._

_"Connor," Sunset muttered, her voice broken. Her grief turned to rage as she faced the flying shadow. She felt her hair lengthen and pony ears grow from the top of her head as she felt magic flow through her, giving her the power to avenge the wrong._

_"You killed him," Sunset screamed at the specter, "I'm gonna-," her angry proclamation was broken by the sound of malicious laughter. What shock Sunset was the fact that the laughter sounded so...familiar?_

_"What happened," mocked the shadow monster as it lowered itself to Sunset's level, "Cat got your tongue?" The being continued to laugh for a moment. "You said I killed him? If you want the culprit, you have to look in the mirror." Sunset stepped back a little._

_"What is that supposed to mean," Sunset asked, her voice becoming less confident. "I didn't-,"_

_"The magic that killed that little loser," Sunset gritted her teeth at that thing's insult, "was brought to this world. By one person. YOU!" Sunset's confidence shattered, and she looked down. "I should know. Because I only exist because of that." The shadow monster transformed into a sight that Sunset long believed she hadn't forgotten._

_"You let magic run wild here," Demon Shimmer said, a playful look in her eyes. "and instead of taking responsibility, you relied on your little princess to save you, as she always had to do."_

_"Twilight's my friend!" Sunset barked in a sad voice, her head bowed in shame. She felt herself being lifted by her hair and was forced to face Demon Shimmer._

_"And then when that little clone of hers wandered into magic, you yelled at her for something that was your job," the Demon said, a wide grin on her face. "You broke her spirit and made her cry, something I can't take credit for in my tragically short time on this world. That's why her friend ran away from you."_

_"I didn't mean to-," Sunset said to Demon Shimmer, her tearful eyes looking into the merciless eyes of her evil half._

_"Isn't that ironic," Demon Shimmer said, "even when you pretend to be good, you still cause misery I could never even dream of." She suddenly got angry and threw Sunset toward the ground. Sunset groaned in agony as she lied face down._

_"Stop lying to yourself, Sunset," the demon yelled. "You brought magic to this world! You should've figured it out! You killed that boy! You know it! Everybody knows it!" Sunset looked up and saw Demon Shimmer had vanished. Instead, she saw all of her friends approaching her, with looks of disgust._

_"Liar, no good varmint," Applejack said._

_"No," Sunset said._

_"Meany, party-ruiner," Pinkie Pie said._

_"Brutish bully," Rarity uttered._

_"I'm not that thing anymore. Stop it," Sunset said._

_"Backstabbing jerk," Rainbow Dash said._

_"Monster," Fluttershy said._

_"Traitor, thief, villain," Princess Twilight said._

_As they got closer, surrounding her in a circle, they started chanting the word "murderer". It echoed throughout the landscape. The sun was turning from a peaceful yellow to a dark red. The sky had gone from blue to red. Her friends' faces became more twisted and angry._

_"MURDERER! MURDERER! MURDERER!"_

_"Stop it," Sunset yelled, lying in a fetal position, unable to bear the merciless accusations of her friends. "Stop it. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to. I didn't-,"_

Sunset woke up with a scream and threw her blanket off of herself so she could sit at the edge of the bed. She felt warm tears flowing onto her cheeks. She sat there catatonic until she heard a knock at the door. After several knocks, Sunset slowly rose from her bed and walked over to the door.

When she opened, she found Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The smiles on their faces fell as they saw Sunset.

The last time sho looked this horrible was in the immediate week of the Fall Formal. Her long gold and red hair was unkempt and unruly, with some of it falling over Sunset's forehead. Her eyes were bloodshot and devoid of the warmth and energy she had always shown in recent months. Underneath her eyes were huge ugly bags. She was dressed in a filthy yellow tank top and pink shorts. Her smell indicated she hadn't taken a bath or a shower. Her face looked pale and several years older, indicating that she had not put on any makeup.

"Hey," Sunset said quietly, sounded like a wounded animal.

"Sunset," Fluttershy said. "can we come in?." Sunset didn't reply verbally, merely opening her door wide open and standing out of their way to signal they could. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy slowly walked in. Sunset followed them, not even bothering to close the door.

Pinkie and Fluttershy wandered in. They looked on the ground and saw her outfit had been thrown to the ground near the entrance. Sunset quietly led them to her couch, while she eschewed a nearby chair, and just sat down on the floor.

"So," Sunset muttered, "can I get you some tea."

"That would be nice," Fluttershy said.

"I ran out," Sunset suddenly said, "I'm such a screw-up, I forgot to get some."

"Shimmy," Pinkie said, "your not a screw-up-," she stopped when she saw Sunset was about to cry. Pinkie and Fluttershy both jumped off from their couch to give Sunset a hug. Sunset broke, crying and wailing.

"It's my fault," Sunset yelled through her tears.

"Sunset," Fluttershy said, her soothing voice cutting through her friend's sobs, "you didn't make Twilight unleash the magic."

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie said, "Those Crystal meanies made her do it."

"I yelled her," Sunset said. "She made a mistake, she wasn't evil, and I yelled at her, for something that I should've been doing."

"You were protecting us," Fluttershy replied, her voice the definition of kindness. "You weren't yelling because you were your mean old self, you yelled because we were in danger. We don't blame you for that."

"Had I not gotten mad, I could've gotten Human Twilight to give me the pendant. Instead, I drove her away, into the arms of Cinch and those monsters," Sunset explained, her eyes narrowing as she remembered that fiend Cinch calling Connor and Twilight her tools. She let out a deep breath.

"It isn't just because I yelled at her. I brought the magic here. I'm responsible for what it does. Instead of trying to figure things out, I tried to get Princess Twilight to fix my mistakes because I'm so useless." Sunset sobbed even more. "Connor died because I was so worthless I couldn't even tell that poor woman why her top student died."

"You didn't make her play around with magic," Pinkie Pie said, her normally manic voice now soothing. "the other Twilight did that on her own."

"But it was my job to figure out the magic, and I didn't do that," Sunset admitted. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy hugged her even tighter.

"He didn't deserve to be vaporized," Sunset yelled. "She wasn't evil like I was. If anybody deserved to die, it was me."

"Sunny," Pinkie Pie said in a disappointed tone, "don't say something like that, you didn't deserve-,"

"Yes I did, Pinkie Pie," Sunset screamed, shocking both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. "I was a monster, even before I stole that crown. That crown just accelerated what I was already becoming. If it wasn't for Princess Twilight sticking up for me, everyone would have beat me up. You guys would have done ie if she hadn't told to give me a chance."

"Well," Fluttershy said, "maybe, but she only did that because she saw good in you. She said 'the Elements will spare anyone who has an ounce of goodness in them'"

"Why didn't magic spare him. This Twilight wasn't evil," Sunset said, "She was just lonely and scared. Why did the magic spare me and kill him?" Sunset sobbed uncontrollably, to which Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy hugged her even more tightly then they had before. Sunset's sobs were broken as they heard someone enter the apartment.

The three broke from their hug, stood from the floor and ran toward the entrance. They saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Flash.

"Guys," Sunset said, her sadness replaced by confusion, "what are you doing-," she paused as she saw someone approach, wearing the most hideous clown mask she had ever seen.

"AAAAAHHHH," Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset screamed.

"Guys," Twilight said, pulling off her mask, "it's me, Princess Twilight. This mask couldn't have been that hideous could it-," she looked at it in horror: the clown looked like it had been possessed by a demon. It had the eyes of some hungry dragon, sharp teeth surrounded by red lips, and a massive scar along its eye. Twilight yelled and threw it down in disgust.

"Applejack," Twilight growled, glaring at her country friend.

"Sorry Twi," Applejack said sheepishly, "it was just short-,"

"Anyways," Twilight said, turning toward Sunset with angry eyes. "okay Sunset, I need answers." She paused for a minute to collect her thoughts. "I came back from a time loop, hoping for some peace and quiet," Twilight said. Flash gave her a confused look, "and the ponies of Ponyville tell me some weird holes appeared in the Everfree Forest. Instead of relaxing from my most recent misadventure, and having a nice lunch with Spike, I have to investigate. I go to my lab and discover that the portal to this world was shut down for nine hours. I get your message about magic trouble, so I tried to message you, and you didn't pick up!" Sunset's eyes widened in guilt. "I assumed that some magical being had somehow defeated you guys, Taken control of the school, so I jumped into the portal, and ready to save you. Instead, I discover the CHS body and Flash mourning someone's death!" Twilight groaned. "And then, I'm shoved into-," whatever Twilight was about to say stopped as she saw Sunset's surprised expression replaced with whimpering. Her frustration gave way to concern.

"Sunset," Twilight asked in a soothing voice, marching over to her friend, "are you-," Sunset let out a wail and collapsed to the ground in grief.

"SUNSET," her friends cried out, as they tried to help the fallen girl get up. Twilight looked at her friend, sobbing like crazy as her friends try to get her to stand. With a grimace, the Princess of Friendship realized that something horrific had happened in her absence.


	9. Returning Home

At Rad, Celestine is waiting for the Shield Princesses to return from Connor's training in the study. The study was as large as the living room, equipped with its own fireplace with a pair of swords that hung over it, several bookshelves filled with various kinds of books, a large black desk, along with some woodcut chairs and a table. Finally, an ornate sword was placed on the window still behind.

"It has been quite a long time for Connor, hasn't he?" said Celestine, and next to her is a younger man and had a more intelligent look to him. He wore blue and evergreen tunic and baggy pants underneath his purple cloak, which had the Black Dogs emblem on his collar. His brown hair was more well-kept, and his calculating green eyes were hidden behind black glasses. This man was Kin.

"Yes, with roughly five hours and an amount of studying. He can be quite the warrior," said Kin.

"Though I hope he can hardly do anything with a lack of heroics." she frowned.

The doors opened to reveal the Shield Princesses and Connor, who is wearing armor.

Connor is now wearing gray armor, with gray gauntlets on his wrists and legs, with a sword strapped to a belt.

"My, you look handsome today." Celestine smiled, and Connor bowed to her.

"Thank you, your majesty," said Connor.

"Yesh, Connor is a fast learner, after all." Vault smiled.

"Claudia, would you kindly hand me that sword?" Celestine pointed to the sword that was behind the desk. Claudia, while a little confused about the request, complied with the request and went around the desk and took the sword to Celestine, who received and held it with the utmost care.

"What I am about to do now is normally done in a more formal setting, but given that time is of the essence, it must be done here. Connor, would you kindly kneel down before me?" She looked at Connor with the utmost seriousness in her eyes. Connor looked at his friends before complying with Lady Celestine's request.

"Your loyalty to your home and people is exemplary, and you have proven yourself on the training grounds several times over. Most recently, your actions have prevented one loss of the people who lived there. Connor Nickell, I shall now ask you the most important questions al squires such as yourself answer. Are you ready?" Celestine said as she shifted the sword to her right hand. Connor looked at his friends and took in their reactions carefully.

Vault smirked, while the others were smiling, and Alicia as tears were leaking out of her eyes. Claudia, on the other hand, held both of her hands over her mouth and nose, the look in her eyes were said that she was about ready to cry at any moment not out of sadness but of the immense amount of happiness that she was desperately fighting back. Connor knew the questions were, and he had been preparing himself for this very moment.

"I am Lady Celestine." Connor looked up at her, ready for what would happen next. Celestine nodded and looked down into his eyes.

"Do you, Connor Nickell, swear to fight for your fellow men, regardless of who they are and where they come from?" said Celestine.

"I do."

"Do you swear to fight for justice? To protect the rights of all and to ensure that even criminals are given the justice that they are due."

"I do."

"Finally, do you swear to fight against any and all evil and tyranny that threatens this world that we live in, regardless of where it comes from and what shape it takes?"

"I do," said Connor as she lightly cut her left thumb with the edge of the sword before placing it on Connor's forehead and forming a cross on it. A small light appeared in her hand when she was done when it disappeared; her thumb was back to normal as if the cut was never there.

"Then by the right of the council of the church, and by my will as a goddess, I dub you Sir Nickell," Celestine said as she placed the sword over Connor's right shoulder, to his left, and back to his right. Connor stood up and was hugged by the princesses for becoming a knight.

"Now that, that's settled. We need to find a way to defeat Origa," said Vault.

In the sky, a man was riding a Monsterous Nightmare. He wore nothing but a green vest on the upper part of his body, blue pants, and had twin daggers on his left and right. He had light brown hair and wore the emblem of the Black Dogs on an armband on his left arm. He was notably older and appeared to be more physically trained. This man was Hicks.

The dragon landed in the throne room and collapsed in exhaustion from dodging a few arrows, and Hicks got off the dragon. The Alliance checked the commotion and saw Hicks, who is out of breath.

"Hicks!" Vault said. "What happened?" he asked, but before he could answer. Luu Luu grabbed him from collapsing.

"Boss," Hicks spoked. "It's Origa, she's on the move," he explained.

"To where?" Alicia questioned, and Hicks is using much of his strength to warn them.

"To another world, filled with horseless carriages, magic boxes, and talking toys," he explained.

It puzzled the princesses, but as for Connor, he knows exactly where Origa is going.

"Guys. I know where she's going, she's heading to my home." Connor said, and the Alliance was shocked to hear this. Is Origa really gonna conquer another world?

"You're world?!" said Luu Luu, as she dropped Hicks.

"Hicks!" Vault cried.

"Why, in the name of Nadders, would Origa come to your world?" Maia questioned in confusion, so did Connor and the Alliance.

"But the spell Origa used is for the most powerful, of all the sorcerors," said Prim.

"I know of a spell that could," said Kin as he took out his spellbook. He flipped through the pages and found one page and recite the incantation, and there, a portal is opened. "This portal will lead you straight, to Connor's home dimension," he explained.

"Please, Sir Connor, accept." Celestine stood there, waiting for Connor's response.

"Please don't push yourself, Lady Celestine, if anyone should be bowing here it should be me for hearing that you have so much faith in my abilities. As for your request, it would be my utmost honor to do so." Connor tried to sound as humble about it as possible.

"Thank you, Sir Connor. The Alliance will accompany you, so will Vault, Grave, and Beardsley," said Celestine as she walked over to Connor. As she did so, she reached into the part of her robe that appeared to barely hold her F cup breasts. She pulled out a small, clear crystal and handed it to Connor. "That crystal shall allow us to communicate with each other over a long distance. Please be careful with it; they are extremely difficult to make," she said.

And so, the Alliance went through the portal to the other world that is... Connor's home.

The Shield Princesses and others came out of the portal and made it to Connor's home dimension.

"Well." Beardsley spoked. "It looks like, your home, Connor," he said. Which, Connor smiled.

"Yeah, I really am?" said Connor.

"Guys, look at this." Luu Luu called. The Alliance checked on Luu Luu, and to their surprise, their one mile from Canterlot High.

"Connor, ain't that the school you participate during, the Friendship Games?" Maia asked as she leaned next to a tree.

"That's right, and what do you want us to look at Luu Luu," Connor questioned.

"Because I just saw a statue of you through the window." Luu Luu explained, and this confused Connor. Why would CHS make a statue of him, if he came from Crystal Prep?

"Wait. If I came from a rival school, why would they make a statue of me?" he asked.

"Maybe it's because you saved a girl from certain death," Vault exclaimed.

"So. If this school thinks I'm dead, I got to lay low." Connor replied. "Good thing I brought my helmet with me," he said as he put the helmet on.

"And there's one clue we haven't found. Why would Origa, come to Connor's world?" Grave mentioned.

"I don't know, but we're gonna find out." So the Alliance decided to make camp in the woods, so they can find a way, to find Origa and stop her.


	10. The Fire Does Not Burn Bright

After getting Sunset's crying under control, the Rainbooms and Flash all gathered in Sunset's kitchen to talk with Princess Twilight. Due to Sunset not usually receiving guests in her apartment, the kitchen table was only big enough to seat two people. Twilight and Sunset sat down while everybody else stood around them. After Twilight explained that her most recent misadventure left her exhausted, Applejack used Sunset's stove to make her some eggs. Realizing Sunset had not eaten since last night, Applejack made her a plate too.

Once Applejack's eggs were ready, the Rainbooms, except for Sunset who sat at the table with a depressed silence, all regaled the events of the previous night to Princess Twilight: the Friendship Games, the appearance of Twilight's human counterpart, her ill-fated attempts to understand magic, and finally her friend's demise at the hands of her ambitious peers and principal. Twilight listened intently while eating her eggs. Sunset never even touched her eggs, letting them get cold.

Once the Rainbooms had finished telling their story, Princess Twilight sat there silently, as she played her friends' accounts in her mind. After a minute, she shook her head and let out a sigh.

"That... that's horrible," Princess Twilight exclaimed in a sad voice. Her face looked like someone who had witnessed a murder, and her eyes looked like they were about to water, restrained only by her newfound ability to restrain her emotions, an ability she needed to have learned as the Princess of Friendship. "Her classmates and that principal...", Princess Twilight paused and let out a frustrated sigh, clenching her fists. Had she not received behavioral training, she would have gone berserk.

"I KNOW," barked Rainbow Dash, her face red with rage, "I wish I could get my hands on those-,"

"Rainbow," said Princess Twilight, "don't waste your energy getting mad." Rainbow Dash cooled down, but her face remained contorted in anger.

"Twilight," Rarity asked, her voice composed but still eager.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any idea how this could have happened? In Equestria, is there magic that could vaporize a being?"

"Yes," Princess Twilight said, "My fellow princesses and I definitely have that power. But what you've described is something I've never seen done. Normally, the Elements..."

"Wait a minute," said Applejack, tapping her chin in realization, "Since you're here, that means the portal was fixed, right?"

"Yeah," said the Princess, "so what?"

"If the portal was fixed-," Applejack started.

"Yay," interrupted Pinkie Pie, suddenly appearing next to the Princess, "it means we can do magic and get pony ears again!"

"Let's test it out," said Rainbow, excited, "I wish I had my guitar, then I could-," Rainbow stopped when she saw Pinkie Pie pull her guitar out of her poofy hair and handed it over to Rainbow, who took it very reluctantly. Everyone else also looked confused, except Sunset, who continued to stare off into space.

"Um, Pinkie," asked Rainbow Dash nervously, "Why was my guitar in your hair?"

"Because it didn't fit in my shoe," replied Pinkie in a matter-of-fact tone. Rainbow Dash stared at her for a minute before sighing and sliding the palm of her hand on her face.

"I have my guitar, that's what matters," Rainbow said with a slight smile. "Let's see if it will work."

The group had moved to the living room for Rainbow's attempted guitar solo. The show was made easier by the fact that Sunset already had an amp lying around. She stood at the center of the room, closing her eyes and smiling as if she was performing in front of a huge audience.

Rainbow began running her fingers along the strings of the guitar and started performing an epic guitar solo. Within 30 seconds, Rainbow's body started glowing, and pony ears and wings popped out, to the joy of everyone in the room. Even Sunset, despite her despondent silence, looked somewhat hopeful.

"We got our magic back," cheered Fluttershy, who was unusually giddy.

"C'mon," said Rainbow Dash, her voice full of heroic confidence, "let's get down to Canterlot High and fix this." All the girls and Flash scrambled for the door, only to be stoped by the Princess' cry.

"Wait," the Princess yelled. Everyone who was planning on leaving stopped and looked at her with a confused expression. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're going to use the Elements to bring back Connor from Crystal Prep," said Rainbow Dash with a smile. Her smile faded at the Princess' frown. Twilight sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Rainbow, guys," the Princess said morosely, "you can't use the Elements to resurrected the dead." The mood of everyone began to sour, and Sunset went back to her forlorn demeanor.

"But Twilight," asked Fluttershy, "you said the Elements were the most powerful force-,"

"The Elements are designed for fighting back against Equestrian evil and disharmony," said Twilight with a hint of despair, "you can't use them to bring the dead back." Everybody in the room looked down at the floor, tired and morose. "I know because I've tried," Princess Twilight said with a little sadness. She felt Flash's strong arms wrap her up in a hug. Once he let go, Princes Twilight looked at Flash with a happy smile.

"Maybe you can't use the Elements to bring him back," Flash said top Princess Twilight, in a warm and encouraging voice, "but now that you guys have your pony magic again, maybe you can still find a way to reverse what happened to Connor."

"Flash," said Princess Twilight sadly, "It just isn't possible."

"Twilight, you're great at magic, I don't see..."

"Flash," Princess Twilight said firmly. Flash ceased his pleasantries. "I appreciate the kind words. And I am good with magic. But I can't do everything. If this Connor had been like... stabbed or poisoned, or crashed his car, I could fix that with Equestrian magic. But this boy was **obliterated!** Trying to put him back together, even if I could somehow collect all his mater, which is impossible, would take tons of magic I don't have, and too much time." Princess Twilight paused to take a deep breath while everyone's expressions went from troubled to sad.

"The other problem is that I have no idea why the pendent my human self was using did what it did. The magic here works very differently than in Equestria."

"But you can figure it out, can't you," asked Fluttershy. Sunset looked up at the question, staring directly at Princess Twilight.

"I could, but I don't have the time." Princess Twilight said, exasperated. "Figuring this out os going to take weeks or months. I also have a new student coming in so many other things to do, the most I can stay here is a week. And if trouble starts up again, I have to head home." Princess Twilight turned toward Sunset. "Sunset, let's work together for the next few days, and afterward you can try-,"

"Sure, let me experiment with magic," exclaimed Sunset in a sarcastic, exasperated tone, "and then I'll screw it up!" Everyone in the room looked at Sunset with a mix of compassion and exasperation. "That's what I've been since I was born A screw-up!"

"Sunset," said Princess Twilight, "that's not-,"

"I had the best teacher ever," Sunset yelled, "I screwed that up! I had a chance to build a new life in a new world, and I screwed that up by stomping on everybody to feel cool! I became a demon and nearly committed murder! And I brought magic to this world, the same magic that killed Connor," Sunset closed her eyes to fight tears. "If anyone deserved to die screaming, it should have been me, not him." Sunset looked down, crying, not noticing an angry stomp in her direction. Sunset looked up to see Princess Twilight giving her a neutral look for a few seconds, and then she saw her raising her hand-

SLAP!

Sunset rubbed her cheek, throbbing from Princess Twilight's slap, which was surprisingly strong for a creature that was not used to hands. Everyone looked on in shock.

"Ow, Twilight," Sunset said, "what was that for?"

"For being an idiot, Sunset," Twilight spat, "a selfish idiot."

"Twilight," Fluttershy said, "you're being a little mean."

"No, Fluttershy," Twilight snapped before turning back to Sunset. "Look around you; none of us want you to die. None of us want you to suffer. If we wanted to die, we would've let you rot in the crater." Princess Twilight narrowed her eyes. "But the fact that you want to die means that all our love and trust was for nothing, right? That despite everything, you would throw your life away and not care how we would feel? Is that what you would do?!"

"No," Sunset said with a sigh. "It's just...Connor didn't deserve to die, screaming. He was not horrible like I was." Sunset felt tears leaking out of her eyes. She felt Twilight's hands holding hers. She looked up and saw the Princess giving her a kind smile.

"Your right, Sunset. He didn't. But neither do you." SUnset felt Twilight squeezing her hands more. "You've made mistakes. Now, you've done so much good. No one wants you to be disintegrated. Please don't ever forget that."

"I know, but still, even if I don't deserve it, I'm still responsible for what happened. I yelled at her and-,"

"Honestly, Sunset, I've done really dangerous things since I started learning magic. Staying up late, starting a fire, brainwashing a bunch of fillies to create a friendship problem I could solve," the last part Princess Twilight said the last quietly and quickly, "and Celestia and my family would yell at me. I didn't enjoy being yelled at, but they were doing it because they loved me, and they were trying to protect me. Since my counterpart did put our friends in danger, I probably would have yelled at her myself. Sometimes, we need a verbal black-eye to wake us up to the fact we're hurting others."

"But you're family, once they stopped yelling, hugged you and assured you it would be OK right," asked Sunset.

"Yes."

"But I can't even do that," Sunset said morosely. "I can't tell that poor girl, I'm sorry. Not just because of what Cinch and those jerks made her do, but because I let my anger run wild and scared her off. That part was my fault."

"But you did want to make it right," asked Princess Twilight. Sunset nodded her need. "That means you're a good person."

"I still wish I could make it up to her," Sunset said bitterly, "and it burns me that I can't. And if I just figured out how the magic worked, none of this would've happened." She sighed. "If I just done my job, I could've helped her. Instead, I expected you to clean up my mess. I yelled at her for something that I should've known how to do."

"There is a way you can make it up to her," Princess Twilight said kindly. Sunset into her eyes, blankly.

"How?"

"Figure out how magic works here and find out what went wrong." Sunset looked reluctant, but the Princess went on. "If magic keeps growing, and we still can't figure it out, then more accidents will happen. The greatest thing you can do for him is making sure that this doesn't happen again." Princess Twilight took Sunset's hands and held them warmly. "I know you're hurting Sunset. I know you feel useless. You feel like you didn't do your job. But I have faith that you can make it right." Sunset gave Twilight a blank look but then gave her a big hug, warming the hearts of everybody who watched, except for Rainbow Dash, who complained sand in her eyes was making her weep.

"Thanks, Twilight," Sunset said, releasing the Princess of Friendship.

"You can thank me by cutting down on the moping," Twilight said in a good test.

"I'll keep it to a minimum," Sunset quipped.

"Another me out there," Princess Twilight exclaimed. She chuckled at that a little.

"What's so funny," Pinkie Pie asked.

"I'll tell you later when things are calmer," Twilight said. "OK, so, first things first," Princess Twilight said, her voice becoming serious. "The key to this mystery is that magic-absorbing pendent. Do you guys have it?"

"No," said Applejack. "If I recall, Cadence-,"

"Wait," Twilight said suddenly, "you guys met Cadence's counterpart?"

"Yes," said Rainbow. "She was the dean of Crystal Prep, but she is also Twilight's sister-in-law. And also Connor's teacher." She looked down sadly. "Or was." The sad truth hung over them. Sunset and Princes Twilight barely kept themselves from weeping.

"As ah was saying," Applejack said. "Dean Cadence took the pendant, as well as Connor's phone."

"Wait," said Pinkie, pulling out her phone, "that reminds me." She dialed a number, waited for it to ring. "Sunny," she yelled at Sunset. "Phone for you." She handed the phone to the fire-haired girl, who took it reluctantly.

"Hello," Sunset said. "Luna, I'm so sorry I didn't call in..." She paused. "Thanks, but..." She paused, but then her eyes watered in sadness. "What? But Luna, I don't know..." She paused, shutting her eyes to keep the tears in. "But..." She paused. "OK. OK, your right. Your right. She does deserve the truth." She paused. "What does she know." She paused. "What time does she want me in?" She paused again. "2 pm is perfectly fine." She paused. "Yes, I'll come down as soon as I can to take care of it." She paused and turned toward Princess Twilight. "Yes, she's right here in front of me. OK. Twilight, Luna wants to talk to you." She handed the phone to Princess Twilight.

"Hello," Princess Twilight said. "Luna! I'm so sorry about what happened." While she chatted on the phone, the rest of the Rainbooms chatted with Sunset.

"So you're going to meet with Dean Cadence," asked Rainbow.

"Yes," Sunset said quietly. "That woman wants to know about magic, and I'm the only one who can answer that." She smiled. "She got rid of Cinch and didn't blow our cover, so she deserves the truth. And if I go see her, I can get that pendent-,"

"What," exclaimed Princess Twilight into the phone, causing everyone to turn her in shock. "But why-," she paused. "But I can where some disguise to go outside." She paused and let out a reluctant sigh. "You're right. Alright, I won't go outside." She paused. "It was great speaking to you too." She hung up the phone and let out another sigh.

"What's wrong," asked Sunset.

"Luna says I can't leave this apartment while I'm here." Everyone stood up at that.

"Why," asked Flash.

"The Twilight Sparkle who lives here. Me walking around in public is going to...complicate things. Especially since the death of Connor Nickell was kept under wraps."

"But we need you at school to work at the lab," Sunset said.

"I know, but the risk of being exposed is too high," Twilight said. "Look, I can visit the school, but I can only if once. You guys had to push me down to prevent my counterpart's classmate from seeing m. We can't risk any of these close calls."

"That's a shame," Flash said sadly. "I really wanted to take you out on a nice dinner while you were here."

"I wouldn't mind if you guys had a dinner date here," Sunset said. "I mean, it's the least I can do for you for coming here on short notice." She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't answer the book and made you panic. I was just so broken. I could barely get up." Everyone walked up to hug her, but she held up her hands. "Don't worry. I feel much better now."

"Really, that'd be nice of you," said Flash. But suddenly, he got a guilty expression on his face.

"Is something wrong Flash," Twilight asked.

"Well Twilight," Flash said, "I met your counterpart and I...um-,"

"The guy flirted with the other Twilight," Rainbow blurted out with a smirk on her face. Flash glared at Rainbow, but it was broken when Princess Twilight gave him a big hug.

"Fash, I'm not mad," Twilight said, smiling. "That was an honest mistake." Her smile became wide. "Besides, how can I be mad at a guy who sang a tribute song to him. That was really sweet of you."

"Well," Flash said nervously, but it was cut off by Princess Twilight, giving him a big hug kiss, which he returned.

"And on Sunday night," said Sunset, "we could have a slumber party here for you."

"That would be fantastic," said Pinkie Pie. "I'll bring the cake and the pie!"

"Anyways," Sunset said, putting on her leather jacket. "Luna said there were rumors about Connor dying. I better go over there right now and put them to rest. But first, I'll put it on the group chat," Sunset said, pulling out her phone.

"Group chat," asked Princess Twilight.

"You remember how people can send messages to each other on MyStable," said Rainbow.

"Vaguely," replied Princess Twilight.

"Well," Rainbow said. "We set up a group chat. Which means everybody at CHS could get the same message. We set this up so we could deal with the next magical emergency, and keep everybody in the loop."

"Really," Twilight asked, her eyes widening. "That's pretty incredible. I bet disaster response would be easier to coordinate in Ponyville if we had something like that."

"Okay," said Sunset. "I sent the message, but I still want to tell everybody myself. Let's go back to school, shall we?"

Everybody piled out of Sunset's apartment, except for Flash, who stayed for a bit to hug and kiss Twilight before he decided to join the others. Twilight, realizing she had to sit and wait, decided to sit down on the couch, and read one of Sunset's encyclopedia's to pass the time.

"Twilight," Sunset said, returning to the apartment.

"Yes," Twilight said, looking up from her encyclopedia.

"Thanks for your help," she said quietly. "You pulled me back from the edge, again. Your the best friend anyone could have."

"Don't mention it," Twilight said, smiling, "It's my job." And with that, Sunset walked out with a smile and eyes full of determination. Twilight smiled at her friend, finding her strength again.

Sour Sweet drove back to Crystal Prep as quickly as the speed limits would allow, her face like someone who had seen a ghost.

After parking her car at Crystal Prep's lot, she walked into the main building in a bot of the daze, still unable to get what had seen.

_'It couldn't have been her,'_ she thought as she marched down the road. _'Twilight was in class. Maybe it was my imagination and my guilt that made me want to believe-,"_ her thoughts were interrupted as a large mass slammed into her. She fell to the ground with a grunt. As she rose up, rubbing her sore backside, she saw another person sitting on the ground, rubbing her head. She had light pink hair and greyish skin.

"Oh, Fleur," exclaimed Sour dramatically, "are you OK?!" She held out her hand to help the fallen girl up. Once Fleur was standing, Sour's concerned look was replaced by a scowl. "Next time, watch where you're going!"

"OK," Fleur said quietly. Normally the upper crust girl would make a nasty remark in response to Sour's abrupt outburst. But like everybody, the death of Connor was hitting her hard, but she seemed more out of it than most other people.

With the pain of the fall mostly gone, Sour went back to her thoughts about her deceased classmate.

"So, Sour," Fleur said quietly, desperately attempting to make small talk. "what's on your mind?"

"Connor," Sour uttered morosely.

"Small world," Fleur said, attempting to add like to this awkward. "So, you must have heard about Canterlot?"

"What about Canterlot," Sour replied, her stupor broken by interest. Fleur sighed as she pulled out her smartphone.

"Okay, so you heard how Canterlot built Connor a statue," Fleur said.

"Yeah," Sour said, "that was weird." Sour understood that Canterlot students were known for being goody-two-shoes, but building a statue for a boy they barely know seemed downright ridiculous.

Fleur pulled up a picture on her phone and handed it to Sour. Who stared. Her jaw dropped.

In front of CHS was a massive poster with a picture of Twilight, who, for some reason, wasn't wearing glass and was letting her hair down. In front was a massive stage, with some garage band playing in front of an unusually massive crowd.

"Those CHS people are saints," Fleur remarked. "They're honoring her better than we did," she looked down, shaking her head on the verge of tears. But Sour didn't pay attention because she noticed something was off. The lead guitarist in the band looked familiar.

_'He was that guy in the car,' _thought Sour. And he was supposedly sitting next to...

Sour gritted her teeth, which is what she did when things weren't adding up. She silently handed back the phone to Fleur and stormed off.

She eventually met up with her fellow Shadowbolts in study hall.

"You guys," she exclaimed as she sat down at their usual table, having a very intense discussion. They paused to look up and greet her.

"Hey," said Indigo Zap. "What's going on."

"It's about time," said Sour.

"You heard about that concert too," Sunny Flare said quietly. "Right now, we're brainstorming ways we can honor him. If CHS is doing that with a concert, we ought to be doing something too."

"Listen, I don't know how, but I saw Twilight in the car with those CHS losers." The Shadowbolts all gave an annoyed glare at Sour.

"Sour," Lemon Zest said in a somewhat livid tone, "it isn't cool to joke about that."

"I'm not joking. I saw her in the car with the same guitarist that was playing at the concert, and two of those Wondercolts." The look on the Shadowbolts went from annoyance to pity.

"Sour," said Indigo, her voice dripping with sympathy, "you really need to see a shrink."

"What," Sour blurted out.

"Well," Sunny Flare said calmly, "you always have these mood swings, and they've been a concern to us for a while."

"I appreciate your concern," Sour said kindly. She then glared at Indigo. "I don't have mood swings!" Indigo Zap and everyone else rolled their eyes at that.

"Now, You've jumped from emotional instability to hallucinations," Indigo continued. "Look, I know you feel guilty about what happened to him. Now because of that, you're seeing her everywhere you go. Maybe helping us brainstorm a project will make you feel better, and take some of it away," she finished by putting her arm on Sour's shoulder.

"Maybe your right," Sour said with a sigh, "maybe I am just guilty." She silently sat down at the table.

"Now where were we," Lemon Zest said excitedly, "Oh yes. How about we make Connor our school mascot. We can give him googly eyes, and dress it up like a prince. He would look so adorable!"

"Oh yes," said Sugarcoat, "let's honor him by turning him into something that would appear on a cereal box." The look on Sunny and Indigo's face meant they didn't think highly of the idea.

"C'mon," groaned Lemon, "a cute mascot will make him immortal."

Sour ignored the discussions, thinking again about what she had seen today. Even if he was a hallucination, she knows something wasn't adding up in all of this

And she wouldn't rest until she got answers.


	11. Sunny Morning

_Connor sat down on a bench in the middle of Canterlot Heights Park. The sky was blue, the weather was perfect, and he had his favorite lunch in the typical paper bag. He stuck his hand into it, pulled out his sandwich, and bent his neck to take a bite._

_"Mmm, ham," Connor said happily, chewing on savory ham._

_When he raised his neck for a moment, he saw a brown-haired boy. His neck jolted up, and he saw himself facing away from him._

_He dropped his beloved sandwich in shock, he jumped up from the bench, and ran over to Past Connor, with determination on his face._

_"Connor," Connor croaked, his voice tinged with nervousness as he ran over to his past-self, "you're here! Good thing you're in one piece. How dod you get here?!" Past Connor didn't turn to face Connor, to the Holy Knight's confusion, which displaced his nervousness._

_"Connor," he repeated with some trepidation, but the brown-haired boy refused to face him. He sighed sadly. "I know what they did was wrong, but do you really need to do the silent treatment?" he asked, some depression in his voice. "Look, just give them a chance to make this up to you." He reached over a hand to put on Past Connor's left shoulder. "Please, just-," as soon as Connor's hand made contact with Past Connor's shoulder, the athlete turned around abruptly with an inhuman speed._

_Instead of seeing Past Connor's head on its neck, Connor saw a decayed face with black eyes and blasted purple magic out of his mouth._

_"AAAAAAAAH!"_

Connor woke up a gasp and started breathing heavily. Once he caught his breath, hen got up and noticed it's dawn, and the others are still asleep. He decided to take a walk.

Connor was walking in the forest, and he noticed that there are armor pieces on top of a rock. He looked up, and he blushed at the sight.

Alicia is taking a bath at a waterfall, where her bare skin his exposed, knowing that she'll pound him for this. Connor quickly hid behind a tree.

"If you want to join me, you can," said Alicia. Connor was shocked to hear that, he took a peek at her nervously.

"Are you sure?" questioned Connor. Then she smiled.

"I don't mind," she said.

With that being said, Connor took off his armor, but he kept his boxers just in case. He sets them beside Alicia's armor, and Connor slowly went into the water, feeling coolness on him, and he sat down.

Then Connor's face turned red because Alicia sat down beside him, making him become nervous.

"I bet your world is beautiful," Alicia spoked.

"Yeah. But this world ha problems too, like yours," said Connor.

"true they don't have happy beginnings, but we can get through to them, together," she said.

"that's right, that's what friends do," he said. And under the water, Alicia held Connor's hand.

Sunny sat down with her parents at breakfast. Her father, Late Shift, and her mother, Mink Coat, were focusing on their smartphones, texting with some colleague or client. Sunny was struggling to keep her emotions in check.

Sunny's parents, Late Shift and Mink Coat were the parents who had to give up family time for the corporate rat race. While Sunny felt neglected sometimes. She understood it was only because of their hard work that she could afford to be at Crystal Prep. She learned long ago that parents have to do things they don't want to fo in order to provide for their children.

One of the reasons why Sunny fought back her sadness was because Sunday mornings were one of the few times she ever had time to spend with her family, and she was determined not to ruin it with grief.

Yet, she even couldn't muster the will to eat the pancakes her mom had made.

"Sunny," Mink Coat uttered in a concerned tone, looking up from her phone, "why aren't you eating your pancakes? What's wrong?"

Sunny sighed. Her mom may have been a career woman, but that didn't stop her from being a mom. She could tell when something was bothering her daughter. Her father too could read her a mile away, and he was now looking at her with the same concern in his eyes.

"Sunny," Late Shift asked in a soothing voice, "are you still upset about what happened at the Friendship Games?"

Sunny's parents weren't there Thursday. They only knew the official story, and believed her grief was dut to seeing her teammate die.

She saw her parents rise from their seats and hugged her tightly. Sunny again fought off tears, for getting comfort she didn't deserve.

"Sweetheart," Mink Coat said soothingly. "I'm sorry you saw your classmate die." Sunny couldn't take it, letting guilty tears roll down her eyes.

"Besides," said Late Shift, "it wasn't your fault that the Connor boy died." The reassurance and sheer irony echoed in Sunny like a horrible violin solo. Sunny started hyperventilated. She broke out of her parents' hug and ran out of the house, barely hearing the concerned cries of her parents behind her.

Sunny drove away from her family's house in her used convertible. Even after ten minutes, she still couldn't stop crying. After nearly tailgating someone due to her grief distracting her, she pulled into a public parking lot where she could let out her sadness safely. After five minutes of weeping Sunny sat there, staring at her own reflection.

_'I've always tried to hide my bad behavior from my parents,' _Sunny thought to herself. _'because I was afraid they would take away my cellphone, but they were minor things. I do the worst thing ever-murder and I want to tell them. I want to be punished.' _Sunny hugged herself and starting sobbing again. _'But I can't tell them, or else everybody will know Cadence lied. That means she'll lose her job, and Cinch will come back.'_

She leaned on the steering wheel, careful not to press the horn, the feeling of guilt making it almost impossible to breath.

_'But I've got to tell someone. I can't take this anymore.'_

Sunny pulled up to the Canterlot Memorial Church. It was a wooden, white building with a mid-sized steeple that had a cross at the tip. It was about 10:30 am, which meant that the morning services were over, and most of the congregants were now leaving and going home.

With tons of people driving away, Sunny had no difficulty finding a spot close by. Nevertheless, getting out of the car was still difficult, considering who she was about to see and what she was about to do.

_'I haven't seen him in two years,' _Sunny thought to herself. _'Will he care about what I have to say? Will he be mad that I never talked to him.'_

But her burning guilt drove out her other guilt and forced her to leave the car.

She walked into the building and began feeling a bit nostalgic. The old wooden pews, the colorful mosaic windows, the choir singing haunting but beautiful chants from centuries ago, the simple giant wooden crucifix on the wall above the altar. The sights and sound of her childhood were lifting her spirits a bit. But her mood turned serious once she remembered her reason for being here.

She slowly walked down the path between the pews, the click of her heels muted by the red carpet. Behind the altar were two doors that contained offices. With a heavy heart, Sunny knocked on the door on the right.

"Come in," said a male voice. With some reluctance, Sunny opened the door. Inside was a green-colored, elderly man wearing a cassock, a clerical collar, and a pair of glasses. He was balding, with his remaining hair having turned grey. He was sitting in front of the simple desk, looking down on a notebook, writing intensely in it.

"So," the man said, 'how can I help you, young...," the man looked up from his notebook and his attentive face twisted into shock. SUnny flinched back a bit.

"Sunny Flare." the man said in disbelief. "Is that you?"

"Father Golden Cross," Sunny said reluctantly, "how have you...", her nervous words were cut off when Father Golden Cross gave her a gregarious smile.

"It's good to see you again Sunny," the man said happily. "how have you been?" Within an instant, Sunny's guilt over not visiting in two years was shredded by Father Cross' warm welcome.

"It's good to see you too Father," Sunny said happily. Her face then twisted into a frown, "But... I've been better." She looked down in shame for a moment. "I'm sorry I haven't been here in a-,"

"Don't worry," Cross said happily. "I know you've been busy with school. Besides, I know you're only here because you want the cookies off of my desk."

"No," Sunny said almost playfully, nostalgia washing over her as she remembered their weekly meetings. From when she was * to when she was 14, Sunny would always pay a visit to Father Cross for some advice. Whenever she couldn't count on her parents for advice or support, Sunny could count on Father Cross to lend an ear. He was never mean or demanding in his advice, nor would he rat out to her parents or the police.

But then she entered Crystal Prep, and those meetings ended, as she was pulled into the world of high school politics and homework. But today, she needed Cross' ear and wisdom. And the fact that he still remembered after all these years warmed Sunny's heart.

"I want to confess something," Sunny said carefully.

"Sit down." Father Cross said peacefully. Sunny fell into the chair in front of the desk. He got up from his chair and went over to a coffee maker in the corner. "Would you like some decaf," Father Cross asked.

"Sure, black," Sunny replied. Father Cross returned with two Styrofoam cups of coffee. He placed one directly in front of Sunny and placed the other cup in front of himself as he sat down. "Thank you," Sunny uttered.

"So, what's on your mind?" Father Cross asked. Sunny struggled to find the right words, taking several minutes to do so. Her face must have looked stupid to others. But Father Cross didn't glare at or condemn her reluctance. He waited patiently as she tried to come up with a proper response.

"Well," Sunny began, tears threatening to leak down her eyes. "There was this girl." She stopped. "Me and my friends, well, um," she fought another sob. "we wanted to win this contest really badly." Her eyes were watering. "And this girl had this thing that we thought would help us win. We made her try and cheat it," she paused, tears about to leak out of her eyes. "And it... hurt one boy badly. And now he's... gone!" With those final words, Sunny broke down in tears. She cried for a minute, letting loose her anger and shame, all the while Father Cross sat there patiently, not even shaking his foot, as Sunny let it all out. When her cried returned to whimpers, Father Cross raised his voice.

"I see," Cross muttered calmly, "what do you mean by 'gone'? Is he... not at your school anymore?"

"Sure," Sunny said after a few moments. It wasn't the complete truth, but it was a way to confess her deed without giving it fully away.

"Was this boy a friend of yours," Father Cross asked.

"No," Sunny said flatly, "he was this annoying jock who no one at our school liked."

"Why did no one like him," Father Cross asked, but in a way that was not judgemental.

"Because he was always showing off how smart he was," Sunny muttered in frustration.

"Did you ever interact with this boy before," Father Cross asked her.

"Well, we had some classes together," Sunny said, "but the only other time we, for a lack of a better term, 'hung out' was..."

_Flashback:_

_Popular girls always threw the best parties, Sunny Flare observed. And the parties thrown by Suri Polomare were no exception. Her home was full of the coolest stuff. Suri's parents ordered the best food. The best DJs were there, able to make even most vapid pop songs sound awesome. Almost the entire freshman class was here._

_"Hey Sunny," Suri said cordially. "How are things?"_

_"Fabulous," Sunny replied sounding like a noblewoman, "you never do anything by halves."_

_"No other way to do it," Suri said with a smile. Suri was about to say something when Fleur ran up to them._

_"Suri," Fleur said with a wicked smile, "our 'special guests' are here." Suri's face also contorted into that weird smile, like when she was about to strike down a perceived opponent._

_"I'll let them in myself," Suri said in an unusually cheerful tone. Sunny saw Suri walk over to the door. To her shock, Suri was welcoming those pedantic teacher' pets from her business class. Why would Suri invite those losers here?_

_"Sunny," Suri said, her arm around Twilight's shoulder, "this is Twilight and Connor." The girl looked scared of her own shadow, and the boy looked nervous, but nevertheless, let Suri dragged them across the room. Twilight smiled a little bit and looked happily at Suri. Suri, in return, looked at her like a shark about to consume its prey, which Twilight and Connor misread as welcoming._

_"OK everybody," Suri said out loud cutting off the music and grabbing everyone's attention, "put down your sodas and your snacks. Right now, we start our main event. And to help us out is Twilight Sparkle and Connor Nickell!"_

_Twilight gave a weak wave at everybody and laughed nervously, while Connor just waved to them. Everybody, in return, looked confused or annoyed with the girl and boy being here like Sunny did._

_"Twilight," Suri said, "go stand in that corner there to get us started." Twilight and Connor, somewhat eager, did exactly as they were told._

_"OK Fleur," Suri said with a grin, "do the thing!" Fleur returned the grin and pulled on some string that was connected to the ceiling. Suddenly, a whole bunch of green and blue paint fell on top of Twilight and Connor. For a moment, the room was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop, as both Twilight, Connor and everyone else struggled to register was happened. During that minute Sunny looked up and saw a bucket suspended from the ceiling connected by the string Fleur pulled._

_The silence was broken by Suri and Fleur laughing like loons._

_"Give it up for Twilight and Connor everybody," Fleur said sarcastically. Within a minute, everyone was laughing like crazy at the boy and girl who got nailed by paint, except for Sunny who continued to stare at Connor and Twilight, who stood there in a trance._

_Twilight and Connor broke their trance by looking up at the bucket, staring dully. Then they looked at the party-goers who were laughing at her. Her lips started to quiver. After about ten seconds, the paint-covered girl let out a pained wail. She ran out of the room in tears, her sobs drowned out by the cruel laughter and fake applause of everyone present. While Connor just left the room, trying to get the pant off of him._

_Sunny saw the boy and girl run out, leaving a trail of paint and tears behind her. Part of her wanted to run after Twilight and Connor, and tell them-_

_NO! Those two were some showoffs who needed to be put in their place. Sunny was here to be popular, not play babysitter to some nerds. So she laughed along with everyone else._

_Flashback end:_

Sunny finished the story, looking thoroughly ashamed. She looked at Father Cross, expecting admonishment, but instead, she still saw those same kind eyes she had seen since she was small.

"So you let them get bullied because w you were more concerned about popularity," said Father Cross. Any other person would say that with scorn, but Father Cross said that without any hint of emotion.

"Yes," Sunny Flare, tearing up. "I didn't care about them, only about what I wanted." She let out a deep breath, trying to control her emotions and continued.

"Eventually, she ratted on Suri and Fleur, and Cadence gave them a really bad detention," she let out a deep breath. "Suddenly she was a snitch, and we all avoided them, or make them sit in the corner of the lunchroom." She let out another deep breath. "And I made her do that thing during that contest because... I again didn't care about them, only about what I wanted. I realize I never cared about them-,"

"And you feel upset because now he is 'gone'," Father Cross said, "you can't make it up to him." Sunny hung her head in shame and sobbed like a baby. Cross went over to try and give Sunny a hug, but Sunny stopped him.

"No, Father," Sunny said, holding her hands up, in a quiet, pained voice. "I don't deserve a hug. I don't deserve forgiveness. I can't make it up to him, it is too late for me to be forgiven."

"Sunny," Father Cross said forcefully. The strong tone broke Sunny out of her pity party, "understand, that I have not always served the word of the Lord. I, like you, once chose popularity above what was right. I too have something to people that they didn't forgive." Sunny looked at him, stunned.

"I once dropped a bucket of glue on a boy's head," Father Cross said with a sheepish smile. Sunny's jaw dropped, "and eventually, I did go over to his house, and try to make amends." Father Cross said. He then gave a sad smile. "He hit me in the face and told me to go to Hell," Father Cross said.

"Did it hurt," Sunny asked, "when that guy said he wouldn't forgive you and hit you?"

"Yes," Father Cross said solemnly, "it hurt a lot. I laid down and cried, thinking I would never be liked again. I would never be good." He then gave a smile, "but then I learned that the path to redemption is not about seeking forgiveness or hiding in the room, thinking you don't deserve love." Father Cross sat back in his chair. "The way you redeem yourself is through repentance."

"Repentance?" asked Sunny confused.

"Here's the first thing you need to do!" Father Cros said, leaning in. "you have to first forgive yourself, which is always the hardest part," Sunny began tearing up a little. "After that, go home and ask your parents to make you your favorite dinner. Make yourself feel better."

"And after that?" Sunny asked.

"Just be a better person," Father Cross said simply. "Repent doesn't mean punishment or discipline. It originally means 'turn away'."

"Turn away?"

"Turn away from sin," Father Cross said dramatically. "Turn away from evil. Turn away from selfishness. Turn away from cruelty. Turn away from hurting others who have done you no harm!" He leaned back, relaxing a bit. "In other words, you just have to be a better person." Sunny looked down. "It's not impossible. I overcame what I was, and I now serve the Lord and heal souls."

"I want to be better," Sunny said quietly. She looked up at Father Cross with tired eyes. "But I don't know how."

"I have an idea," Father Cross said. "Throughout history, when warriors slayed their foes, they were told to raise the orphaned children as their own to redeem the blood they shed."

"You want me to kill somebody and steal their kid?" asked Sunny Flare, aghast.

"That's option B," Father Cross quipped. He then let out a small laugh. Sunny smiled a little. "No. Here's what you can do. Find a girl like this other girl you didn't care about. A girl with no friends and with glasses, and who seems too smart for her own good. If you meet her, be the friend you wish you could've been to this other girl. Give her the love and care you wish you could give to the other girl. That is your mission, Sunny. Be the person you wish you could've been, and you will have repented."

Sunny stared at Father Cross for a few seconds, before letting out the wildest smile she had smiled in days.

"That's a great idea Father," Sunny said. "I'll do it!"

"Good!" Father Cross said happily. "Now I want you to understand that you're not a bad person. If you were, you wouldn't be here trying to be better." Father Cross got up and put an arm around Sunny's shoulder. "Even if you lose faith in yourself I have faith in you Sunny, that you will try and be better."

Father Cross was cut off by a huge hug that Sunny gave him. He decided to return the hug as well. After a minute they parted.

"Thank you so much," Sunny Flare said, grinning. "Can we start our weekly chats again? I remember how they make me feel less...sad."

"Of course!" Father Cross said happily. "I'd be delighted."

Sunny walked out of the church with a new lease on life, feeling better then she felt, having found a new mission in life.

_'Connor, wherever you are,' _Sunny Flare thought as she looked to the sky, _'Heaven or some place else-I promise you, I will never make the same mistake again. I'll be the friend I wish I could've been.'_


	12. Sunday Afternoon

Sunday Afternoon 1:58 PM

Sunset Shimmer stood outside the entrance of Crystal Prep Academy with an anxiety she had not felt since the first few weeks after the Fall Formal, when the student body's hatred for her was at its peak. It was a warm day, and Sunset was wearing her trademark leather jacket. Despite that, Sunset still felt a harsh chill run through her body.

_'I always thought that my past was not today,' _thought Sunset, _'but now I have to tell my past to give a poor woman closure.' _Sunset frowned bitterly at that. She looked down and then looked up at the entrance. Despite it being a little more than a few feet away, her anxiety made the entrance look like it was a thousand miles away.

_"That woman got rid of Cinch and didn't tell anyone about magic," _Luna told her, _"you owe her."_

Pushing away her anxieties, Sunset took a deep breath, strengthened her back, and walked into the door.

Cadence sat in her office, awaiting that Sunset girl who somehow knew about magic. While she waited, she looked back on the past 48 hours as CPA's principal with exhaustion.

She remembered her final words with Cinch that Friday.

_6 PM_

_Cadence walked over to the detention room. The door lacked the luxury and woodwork of other doors in CPA. It looked like a prison door, with its metal exterior and bars on the windows. That was no accident. Cinch felt making the detention room look like a prison cell would "scare the miscreant out of those brats," in her own words._

_How ironic that Cinch's last day in Crystal Prep would end with her in there. Part of the reason Cadence made her stay in there is that she relished a bot in seeing her former boss behind bars, even if only temporarily._

_She took out the key, and unlocked the door to the room. Cinch was sitting there, her body leaning over her desk, her eyes completely lost._

_"OK Mrs. Cinch," Cadence said with some derision. "Your detention's over." Cadence held the door open. "You may remove yourself from the premises." Cinch slowly looked up from the desk. To Cadence's astonishment, instead of the broken looks she had seen when she fled her office, Cinch instead gave her a nasty grin._

_"What's so funny," asked Cadence, a suspicious look in her eyes._

_"Nothing," Cinch uttered. She started clapping her hands, in that slow sarcastic way when mocking someone. Combined with the smile, Cadence felt a little unbalanced. "Despite everything, I can't help but commend you for your brilliance. Using Connor to sack me and get the job you so craved. I knew you had it in you."_

_"I got rid of you so you would never hurt another student again," Cadance barked, clenching her fists. "That was for Connor!"_

_"And isn't it a coincidence that you just happen to get my job as well and all the prestige it brings," Cinch replied sarcastically. Cadence's face twisted into stone._

_"I don't care about prestige. I'm gonna make this school into a better place. A place where everyone can be each other's friend," Cadence said proudly. Cinch responded to that with a nasty grin._

_"Miss Cadenze, you were always the dreamer." Cinch said with a dose of sarcasm. Cadence flinched at that._

_"You had no right to call me that when I was 16, you certainly don't have a right to call me that now!" Cadence said angrily. Cinch would call Cadence her official name whenever Cinch felt she was acting childish. Now, it was leaving an especially bad taste in her mouth._

_"I can't help it, since you sound so childish," Cinch said. '"I'm gonna make this school a better place,"' she said, imitating Cadence's soft accent._

_"Let me ask you this, Miss Cadenza," Cinch said. "How did it feel to steal my life's work, and then incapacitate me and twist my wrist? Did you feel a sense of satisfaction?"_

_"You killed my student," said Cadence, growling. "If I really wanted to do worse, I would. Instead, I'm getting you out of my sight quietly."_

_"Do you believe honestly mean to tell me you didn't feel a sense of exhilarating," Cinch asked Cadence. "The feeling of crushing another under your heel? Can you honestly tell me that it didn't pass through you?"_

_"Well," Cadence began. "I, um..." Cadence paused. Seeing Cinch writhe like a crippled slug, like a helpless animal, did give her a taste of power and confidence. And it was... exhilarating._

_"So you did feel it," Cinch said, her eyes narrowing in satisfaction, that smile looking a little bit vicious._

_"Deep down, all those in authority desire power over others," Cinch said, "and all of us IN authority, like you, make the mistake of deluding yourself into thinking you have good intentions when you lie and cheat your way to the top. Now that you've stolen my job, you've convince yourself and your feeling of satisfaction is euphoria, because you think you can make things better." Her tone suddenly became less condescending and more cynical and bitter, and the grin turns into a frown. "But I guarantee you, once you've been force to fight the powers that can be, forced to sit in my chair... all that hope and joy will vanish, and all that will be left in you will be the desire for power and glory." With that, Cinch jumped up from the desk, and pushed pass Cadence._

_"Goodbye, Principal Cadence," Cinch said quietly, as she walked out of the room. Cadence stared at her. With a dose of anger, some fear and...maybe pity._

Cinch's words stunned her a little bit, but she wrote it off as the noise made by a defeated woman. But then she started actually being principal, and well...

Her meeting with the school board made her want to beat her head against a brick wall.

_"Principal Cadence," Board President Memo said with anger, "why would you suspend Gem Topaz?"_

_"Gem beat up a freshman," Cadence said firmly, she was sitting at the end of the rectangular table, with Memo at the other end. Memo was a fat man with grey skin, green eyes, and white and grey hair. His face is always seemed to have a hunger upon it. Over half the board members were looking at her with the same disgust._

_"Come now," Memo said with a forced laugh. "Surely a small prank can be overlooked, especially when the prankster in question is the daughter of Gem Ruby, and a very...good friend of CPA."_

_'You mean a good donor,' Cadence thought with disgust. 'Maybe he ought to learn to stop overlooking his daughter's bad behavior.'_

_"All for revoking Gem Topaz's suspension say 'aye'," Memo said. Over half of the board members said 'aye', to Cadence's anger. Memo looked at her, and comprehending her disgust, stopped her fake smile._

_"Did it occur to you that CPA needs all the loyal friends it can get," Memo asked with annoyance. He pulled out a newspaper and threw it at her._

_The headline read, "TOP STUDENT AT CHS KILLED BY NEGLIGENT PRINCIPAL"._

_"These rich parents send their students here because they think we can keep them safe," Memo said, "with this story, parents may be looking to withdraw funds and kids from here. Sacking Cinch was good damage control, but if we see a massive withdrawal of students, donors like Gem Ruby are the only way we'll ride it out."_

_Cadence sighed, conceding his point. She wouldn't be able to do anything if Crystal Prep went bankrupt. Letting off Gem Topaz would be a small sacrifice._

_"It is not just this accident that looks bad," said Golden Sticker solemnly. He was a leaner man, with golden skin and light purple hair. He was Cadence's favorite teacher when she was a Crystal Prep, being able to evenly balance magnanimity and toughness. He grabbed the newspaper and put his finger on the words' "TOP STUDENT". "Connor Nickell is the boy who gave this school the highest ranking in the state, and now that he's dead, we may lose that mantle." A silence hung over the board. "I can't believe Cinch would be so reckless," Sticker said with a sadness that was felt by the rest of the board. Or almost all of them._

_"I know," Memo said, fuming with disgust. "That boy was an athlete, and that Twilight girl was a meal ticket. They got us grants, donations, and they won us cash prizes. I can't believe Cinch was so stupid as to kill the golden goose."_

_Cadence briefly glared at Memo for thinking of her student and sister as some assets or commodities. Golden Sticker also looked a little annoyed at that, but they continued the meeting, which was trying to keep their school solvent amid the bad press._

Cadence gritted her teeth as she remembered that meeting. She had been there to implement changes to make Crystal Prep friendlier, but that man and almost everyone on that school board, was obsessed with cash. He seemed determined to shoot down every last one of her ideas out of pure spite.

_'It's because he's afraid of me," _Cadence thought with a smirk, _'He's afraid that if I'm too popular, I'll take his job the same way I took Cinch's. That's why he won't let me have a victory unless it can benefit him as well.'_

If it had been just dealing with those inept administrators, she wouldn't be so jaded. But as Principal, she had to deal with the cable of angry, neurotic, overachieving parents. And since it was made public that Cinch killed a student, many of those parents making were threats to withdraw their children from an unsafe environment. Not to mention Canterlot students, motivated by vengeance were launching an online smear campaign that was only adding fuel to the fire. This was also making parents very wary about sending their students into a toxic student life.

It took every ounce of Cadence's energy and social grace not to crumble before their shrill demands, as well as keep the prospective students coming. Skilled students were needed to keep the school's average up. There was only one big name she was eager not to lose.

_"Mr. Zoom," Cadence pleaded over the phone, trying not to sound too firm or too desperate, as she did not want to drive away such a reputable figure, "I assure you that Cinch's forced resignation has proven that CPA is committed to holding teachers and faculty accountable for their actions."_

_"It's not just the motorcycle incident," Carter Zoom barked into the phone. "I'm also concerned about student life at CPA. I just read an online review board. Some people have written that CPA students like to take smart kids and dunk their heads in toilets."_

_"A lot of those reviews have been written by CHS students," Cadence replied, not trying to sound condescending, "and CHS has had a longstanding rivalry with CPA for the past few years, so their criticisms ought to be taken with a grain of salt."_

_"Mrs. Cadence," said Canter Zoom firmly, "I will say that my experience in high school was full of things I've read online." He quietly sighed into the phone, reliving some not-so-pleasant memories. "My niece Juniper has already had a rough time. Her parents' marriage fell apart, and she didn't have any real friends at her old school. I don't want to stick her in a place where they just pick on her. Can you honestly tell me that your student body is kind to those who are...different?"_

_The questioned hit Cadence like a bullet to the heart. No, her students weren't exactly kind to misfits. She knew one misfit in particular who never had it easy. She glanced down at a photo of Twilight, holding her science fair trophy. She had the prize, but she never had friends in this photo, or any other photo in her school days._

_'No one to really help her through the painful maze of highschool,' Cadence said sadly._

_Cadence's face brightened up. She had an idea._

_"Mr. Zoom," Cadence said with confidence. "Your right, some students can be rough, but most students are also very kind once you get to know them. I'm going to find a kind student who will help guide your niece through CHS. Who better to help your niece than someone from CHS' student body?"_

_"That's...not a bad idea actually," Canter Zoom said, somewhat relieved. "Just make sure whoever you recruit isn't some bully looking for a victim and someone who just plays nice when you think they are looking."_

_"I have worked with students as a Dean," Cadence said confidently, "I think I can tell when someone is trying to act kind, and someone who is genuinely kind."_

_"I hope so," Canter Zoom said, some relief in his voice. "Alright. You'll see Juniper there Monday morning. Have a good day!"_

_"You too," Cadence said, hanging up the phone. Just when she thought she could relax, another ring of the phone broke her brief moment of tranquility. She sighed, realizing the angry calls wouldn't stop for a while._

Between the angry parents and those jerks on the school board, Cadence was starting to realize why Cinch became so cold-hearted. Cadence knew about her past tragedies, but only now she was really starting to walk around in Cinch's shoes. She couldn't sympathize with Cinch after what she did, but she could...understand her.

Dealing with so much hostility and stupidity from parents and administrators alike, and not having a family to ease the anger, it was easy to just stop crying about doing good. Easier to just be in the game for oneself.

She glanced down at the photo of Twilight again. No, she couldn't just give up. She had to make this place better. Even if it meant fighting the pigs and the angry parents, she would make this place shine for everyone. It was the only way she could make it up to Connor.

She heard a knock on her door and looked up. She saw, through the glass window on her door, the Sunset girl. Her hair, jeans, boots, and black jacket made her look like a street thug, but her face reeked of fear and guilt, a sight she had seen on many students.

Cadence motioned with her hand to get the girl to come in. She slowly opened the door, and sat down at the chair in front of the desk, looking like a wounded, tortured animal. A far cry from the angry, passionate girl from a few days ago.

"So," Sunset said in a nervous tone, "what did Celestia and Luna tell you?"

"They told me you were the person who knew the most about magic," Cadence said soothingly. "They also said you're a smart, kind girl with good friends and that I shouldn't judge you for the mistakes you made in the past." Cadence gave the girl a warm smile, which made Sunset a little less anxious.

"Just tell me everything you know about the magic, and how it got here," Cadence said soothingly. "I'm not going to judge you."

"Okay," Sunset said, "the story begins in the world I came from."

After roughly an hour, Sunset spilled everything from Equestria and how magic worked, to the sordid details of her life, her battle against the Dazzlings, and the events that led up to the tragedy of the Friendship Games.

By the end of her lecture, Sunset was exhausted.

"That's all I have to say," Sunset offered. She looked at Cadence's stone face, and feared it was the face of disbelief.

"Look," Sunset said, panicking, "I-I know how crazy all that sounded, but-,"

"I believe you," Cadence said, albeit with a tired expression. Sunset looked stunned.

"Just like that?" Sunset said incredulously after a momentary pause. "You believe everything I said? My friends couldn't believe half the things I said about Equestria, even after they gained the powers of Harmony. And you believe me already?"

"Well... there are a couple of reasons why I'm inclined to believe you. One is that seeing teenagers grow wings, watching my students nearly get eaten by a bunch of vines, and hearing your dog talk kind of makes you question reality and accept the impossible." Cadence finished in a facetious tone.

"And the other reason?"

"As a dean, I think I have a sense of when a student is telling fibs. You don't sound or look like a liar, but someone with a lot of regret." Sunset looked down in shame. "In all honesty," Cadence said, her voice becoming calm, "the hardest thing I can believe is that you were once evil and heartless." Sunset looked up in surprise.

"Why is that? Is it because of what Luna and Celestia told you?"

"Well, Owen's actions Thursday night aren't the actions of someone I'd call selfish." Sunset's eyes widened. "He attacked Cinch because of what she made Twilight do, he called my students out for their selfishness, he talked about how friends are more important than victory, and then forfeited the Games to make his point." She then gave Sunset a proud smile. "And not only that, everyone of your classmates followed his lead. They must really respect him enough to do that."

"I guess he just used the right words," Sunset said sheepishly.

"Maybe," said Cadence, "but those words wouldn't have mattered if your classmates didn't already respect him." Sunset blushed a little at that. But then she lowered her head and sighed.

"Aren't you mad that I brought magic that killed Connor-," Sunset paused when she saw Cadence raise her hand.

"Yes, you told me, you brought the magic here," Cadence said quietly. "You said you brought it here, with malicious intent. To... overthrow the princess of yours and claim what you believed was your rightful throne."

"Well," Sunset said, feeling tears pool near her eyes.

"Let me ask you this, Sunset? When you first came here, what did you think of the planes?"

"Um," Sunset uttered, confused by the question. However, she gave a small smile as she remembered that day. "Well, I thought it was incredible! I thought to myself 'these humans are insane to fly these huge machines into the air'. It was when I really became impressed with humanity, and what they could do without magic."

"Do you think planes are bad because some of them have been used to bomb cities?"

"Well...no."

"Do you think the inventor of the airplane should be to blame for aerial bombings?"

"No."

"So you're not to blame for what happened to Connor." Cadence said. She noticed Sunset's eyes begin to water and pushed her point. "Even if you had brought magic here with good intentions, that doesn't mean that someone like Cinch or the Dazzlings wouldn't have come along and used it for horribly selfish reasons. You are at fault for you becoming a demon, but everything after is the fault of someone else."

"I guess that makes sense." Sunset said quietly. "But aren't you also mad that I yelled at Twilight and made her cry?" Sunset asked, her eyes beginning to water. "I mean, when is your-,"

"As her sister-in-law, yes I would be inclined to defend her," Cadence said. "But as a dead, I've always tried to see two sides to a story. I get she put your friends in danger, so I can't blame you for blowing up at her. Twilight herself has done a lot of dangerous things too. She tried mixing chemicals despite being sleep deprived."

"Really," Sunset asked shocked.

"Yes, Twilight maybe smart, but she's done a lot of reckless things in the name of science," Cadence said with a sigh. "She becomes so obsessed with her work, she lost sight of minor things like... food and sleep. She's driven me up a wall, so I can easily imagine her doing the same to you. That's why I can't be mad at you for that." She looked up. "Besides, seeing Owen for her more than made up for that." Cadence let out a sigh and began boiling some water for tea.

"Honestly, if you want to blame someone for what happened to Connor, blame me." Sunset gave her a confused look. "Because I blindly admired someone so long, I allowed that person to get away with abuse, and it took losing my student to make me how horrible she was." Cadence got up and started pacing around the room.

"Who was this person," Sunset asked sympathetically.

"Cinch," Cadence said quietly. "when I was Twilight's age, Cinch was the political science teacher here at Crystal Prep. She didn't just read about politics out of a book. She worked for legislators and policy makers in the past. Her class was the most converted, because some of her students didn't just go to college. A lot of them become legislators."

"Really?" Sunset asked, surprised. "Why did she give up a career in politics, and become a teacher?" Cadence walked back top her desk, and pulled some framed photo out of the drawer. Sunset took the photo, and saw something that was unimaginable.

It was Cinch and she was smiling. Not the smile of cold ambition Sunset was uncomfortably familiar with. It was the tender smile of someone who had the best day of her life. She was in a wedding dress, and holding her hand was a handsome, but plump fellow in a fancy tuxedo. He had bright and poofy red hair and green skin, and he too had a wonderful, if silly smile upon his face.

"Cinch was married," Sunset asked in shock.

"Yes," Cadene said wistfully. "The groom's name was Watermelon. He was a goofy guy, but one that even a soulless person could not help but love with." She pulled out another picture from her purse and handed it to Sunset. The picture of a young girl, about 5-6 years old, with light blue skin and red hair tied into pigtails. The girl was dressed in a luxurious dark blue dress.

"Is this-,"

"Yes, that's Cinch's daughter, Alexa." Cadence said, feeling nostalgic. "She was this old when I was Cinch's student. I knew her because Cinch saw a lot of potential in me. She took me under her wing. But I felt...like I was part of her family."

_Ten years ago._

_Cadence and Professor Cinch were sitting on a fancy blue couch in the middle of Cinch's living room. The room was sumptuous but tasteful, with beautiful blue adornments and decorations._

_"Miss Cadenza," Cinch droned, "let us return to practicing debate. The debate championship is next week, and you need to be focused."_

_"Okay," Cadence said._

_"Now Miss Cadenza," Cinch said, her voice sounding like a debate moderator, "what is your opinion about government plans to rollback environmental regulations." Cinch gave Cadence a cold look of observation._

_"Well...um-," Cadence stammered, before a ruler loudly struck the table in front of her. She looked at Cinch, holding the ruler in front of her, her face full of disappointment._

_"Miss Cadenza," Cinch said, annoyed. "You never, ever use 'um' in a debate. That makes you look uncertain."_

_"I know Professor Cinch," Cadence said, "but you make me a little nervous."_

_"Young lady," Cinch said, shaking her head. "If I, the one trying to help you, is making you nervous, how can you possibly stand before the unwashed masses and your enemies?" She paused as she watched Cadence stomached this thought. "You can be the smartest person in the world," Cinch then pounded her fist on the table, and gave Cadence a serious look, "but without confidence or good presentation, no one will ever give you a second look!"_

_"Your right," Cadence said with a smile, "But-," Cadence's response was broken as she hear the sound of the door behind them opening._

_"Mommy," screamed Alexa, running into the room. Cinch flinched, annoyed at being interrupted. She put aside her chagrin, and gave Alexa a warm smile._

_"Alexa," Cinch said firmly but with a hint of kindness, "you know not to disturb me when I'm working with a student."_

_"But I made this drawing of you," Alexa chirped, running up to Cinch waving the drawing around. Cinch took the crude drawing, and looked at it with the same critical eye she gave everything else. The critical eye was replaced with a look of sympathy._

_"This is a lovely drawing, Alexa," Cinch said, cooing._

_"I think its nice too," Cadence chimed in. "I think it could end up in the Louvre."_

_"Hi Cadence," Alexa said, as if just noticing the teenage girl. "Are you still going to come to my ballerina recital?"_

_"Of course," Cadence said enthusiastically. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."_

_"But again Alexa, you still shouldn't have disturbed my lesson," Cinch said with a degree of annoyance._

_"But daddy said to show it to you," Alexa chirped, a happy smile on her face. Cinch groaned and rubbed her temples._

_"Watermelon," Cinch barked, turning his head toward the door, "you know better than to encourage your daughter to interrupt me." Through the same door marched watermelon, with a sly grin on his face._

_"Alexa is an artist," Watermelon said dramatically, "she deserved to have her genius judged by your critical eye, Abie!" His grin turned a little nasty. He broke from the conversation to give a welcoming wave to Cadence, who returned it. Cadence chuckled as he saw Cinch give her husband a stink-eye, to which he responded by sticking his tongue out at her._

_"Well," Cinch sighed, looking to the clock, "it is almost noon. We might as well break for lunch. Miss Cadenza can join us if she wants to." Cadence nodded. "well, let's head over to the kitchen." The four quickly marched over to the kitchen, eager to enjoy some good food._

Sunset heard the whole story with disbelief. The idea of Cinch being a family woman boggled her mind.

"I can hardly believe it," Sunset quipped. "Cinch having a heart."

"Well it is the truth," Cadence said sadly.

"And she was like a mentor to you," Sunset said, her voice melancholic, "it must have been, like, a blow to you when she did what she did...to," her voice trailed off as she saw Cadence's sad eyes. "what happened to make her so mean?"

"Well," Cadence sighed. "About four years ago. Watermelon and Alexa both got killed in a car accident." Sunset gasped. Cadence closed her eyes, trying to blink away the tears. "Some lunatic tried driving while on his cell phone. He plowed them right off of a cliff."

"I mean, if you gave a political career to raise a family, only for your family to die, that would cause anybody to snap," Sunset remarked. Cadence nodded her head sadly.

"Yes, it was tragic," but then suddenly Cadence turned furious, and threw the wedding photo of Cinch into the garbage. "But going through tragedy is no excuse for creating more of it." Cadence leaned back her chair. "I let my sympathy and love of Cinch blind me to what she was doing. I let her berate student and teacher alike because I only saw her as my strict but hopefully mentor, not the bitter and cruel woman she now is. It took losing Connot to..." Cadence looked like she was ready to cry, but took a deep breath, and barely held it in.

"How did you end up working for Cinch here and Crystal Prep?" Asked Sunset, trying to pull Cadence's thoughts away from her own doubt. "And why did you end up in education instead of politics?"

"Well," Cadence said, her voice becoming more wistful, "In my senior year, I met the nicest, hottest guy in school," Cadence pulled up a framed photo, showing a picture of her and teenage Shining Armor with their arms around each other. "And he had the most adorable, precious, little sister," Cadence pulled up another photo, showing Human Twilight to hide her face behind some kind of stuffed, donkey.

"Aww," Sunset cooed.

"Yeah," Cadence said with a chuckle. "Babysitting Twilight brought more fulfillment to me then politics. I realized I wanted to help young people like Twilight. So I switched my focus to education in my final year. I got my degree at the age of 20. Cinch, who by that point was now principal, got me a job here as a teacher out of college. Within a year, I got to be Dean."

"That also played a role in your loyalty. I mean she did so much for you," Sunset said, shaking her head, but seeing Cadence frown at that Sunset decided to change the subject. "So what was it like to babysit Twilight?"

"Well," Cadence said, smiling at happier memories, "Instead of dolls, Twilight loved science books. And let me tell you, she had the energy of 1000 batteries."

"Really?" Sunset asked, trying to reconcile the meek wallflower with the rambunctious youngster Human Twilight apparently was.

"And she wasn't just someone who sat in a lab all day," Cadence said. "You know how there are kids who dream of a treehouse?" Cadence asked. Sunset nodded. Cadence pulled out some diagram, and handed it over to Sunset. "Imagine a girl who could draw her own blueprints, at eight."

"Wow," Sunset said, looking up at Cadence briefly, before looking at the unusually professional blueprints for the treehouse.

"You think that's impressive? How about blueprints for a house at age ten," Cadence asked, pulling up some other diagram, which Sunset took. Sunset's eyes widened in shock. She looked at the design for a one story house with incredulity. The design combined utility and comfort.

"She really was quite the prodigy," Sunset uttered. "So, what happened to make her lose that energy?" Cadence again looked downcast at that question Cadence pulled out another photo, and handed it to Sunset. It showed a woman with white skin, and white hair with streaks of purple running through it, and a man with blue skin and darker blue hair. In between them was a happy Twilight.

"Her parents...died?" Asked Sunset.

"Night Light, even though he looked thin, he was a guy who loved to eat." Cadence said. "He ignored warnings about his heart. Eventually, his overeating got to him. 6 years ago this summer, the Sparkle family and mine had a barbecue. Night Light was running around, with Twilight on piggyback. Suddenly, he collapsed onto the ground. He had a heart attack." Cadence paused, reliving that horrible memory. "She thought she was responsible having been on her father's back, and she spent hours crying and screaming 'I killed my daddy, I killed my daddy,'" Sunset teared up at that horrible image. "I still think Twilight still blamed herself for what happened to Night Light." A brief, unhappy silence hung over the two.

"What happened to her mom," Sunset croaked.

"She got shot during a bank robbery," Cadence said sadly. "This was the spring before Twilight entered Crystal Prep. Anyways, this took a lot of life out of Twilight. After losing her father, she started going out less, and hardly ever left the house or her lab." Cadence paused. "The problem was, Twilight couldn't really make many friends. Her interests were different from her peers, so she never could interact with them in a meaningful way."

"So she never had friends." Sunset said sadly. "Did you ever try?"

"The problem was Twilight didn't care about anything but science," Cadence said. "Shining Armor and I tried to get her to join clubs, but she never cared about anything but books and science. The kids at Crystal Prep, well in the first few weeks here, they beat her up and stuff."

"Didn't you do anything about it?" Sunset asked.

"Twilight was too embarrassed to say a word. Teenagers don't like to talk about being bullied. There's always this code of silence with school bullying, even from the tormented." Sunset nodded her head. It was that code of silence that allowed her to get away with a lot of bullying at CHS. That, and her graders and ability to cover her tracks. "It was only when a bunch of girls dumped paint on her head after inviting her and a friend to a party that I found out." Sunset looked shocked at that. "It was terrible. She left school for three weeks after that. I begged her at one point to let me help her make friends, but..."

_Two years ago._

_Suri and Fleur were digging ditches. They both had furious expressions on their faces, due to the series of humiliations they endured. First they were doing scut work. Secondly, they were dressed up in orange jumpsuits, like prisoners. Thirdly, they were being stared at by everybody. Fourthly, Cadence was standing over them, a pitiless expression on her face._

_Above them, stood a banner that said, "This is what happens to bullies," in red ink._

_Cadence and Twilight were at home. Cadence was rubbing a moist rag across Twilight's face. The girl was still as a statue, almost unresponsive._

_"See a lot of the paint is coming out," Cadence said kindly. Twilight however started to tear up. Cadence gave her a warm hug._

_"Don't worry," Cadence said, "I'll help you make some friends,"_

_"No," cried Twilight, tears still pouring from her eyes. "Don't."_

_"Twilight," Cadence said, "just let me try..."_

_"No," Twilight insisted. "I don't want people who will be friends with me just because I'm your sister-in-law. I just want to stay home and never go back there."_

_"Twilight," Cadence sighed. "I know how badly those girls hurt you and Connor, but I promise, things will get better. You just have to try again. After I punished those two girls, no one will ever hurt you or Connor again."_

_"Really?" asked Twilight._

_"Really," said Cadence. "If you don't want me to talk to some students for you, that's fine. But just go back to school. That proves to them that you're that much stronger."_

_"Okay," Twilight said, leaning into Cadence for another hug._

"So, everyone stopped bullying Twilight," Sunset said.

"Not really," Cadence said. "Nobody played a prank like that on her, but suddenly everybody saw them as snitches. And the students were always jealous of their accomplishments, and didn't like their interests, so everyone ignored them all the time, and they still picked on them."

"I know that feeling," Sunset croaked, recalling when every student treated her like the plague after the Fall Formal.

"I mean, I was able to get her to do one thing that was extracurricular in her freshman year," Cadence said. "This trivia contest things. Twilight joined the team, took the school to the state championships, and she won a quarter million dollar prize." Sunset mouthed a 'wow'. "But no one on the team invited Twilight out to anything. I threw her a party, and she got to keep the trophy, but it hurt her that no one on the team or in the school acknowledged her." Sunset shook head in shame.

"To help Twilight out I even tried to..." Cadence paused, looking like she had swallowed poison.

"What?" Asked Sunset.

"Well, Shining and I invited Cinch out to dinner at her house several times. Talked about Twilight's interests. Told her about what happened to her parents. I was hoping that Cinch would, you know..."

"You wanted Cinch to be the mom she lost, and you wanted Twilight to be the daughter she lost," inferred Sunset, in shock. Cadence flinched, but nodded.

"I know how stupid that sounded," growled Cadence, "but-"

"No, I understand," Sunset said. "Since Cinch did so much for you, you thought she could have been kind of a stepmom for Twilight. But I guess that didn't work out."

"Cinch never cared about Twilight's personal life," Cadence said regretfully. "All the ever talked about was anything related to Crystal Prep, and always telling Twilight to be sure to live up to Crystal Prep's legacy, ergo her own." She sighed as she remembered the not-so pleasant dinner.

_Cadence and Twilight sat at the dinner table opposite each other, while Cinch sat at the head of the table._

_"So Twilight," Cadence said in a strongly friendly tone, "tell Cinch all about that new compound you made in your lab."_

_"Well," Twilight said, "I came up with a kind of acid which-,"_

_"Ms. Sparkle," Cinch said in an overtly professional tone, "I feel your grades are more important than some silly experiment."_

_"But my grades are-," Twilight protested meekly._

_"Twilight, you know the Principal is trying to help you," Cadence admonished. "Abie, please continue."_

_"Thank you Cadence," Cinch said. "You're last exam fell from 95 to 92," Cinch said in a disappointed tone._

_"I'm sorry, I was just a little tired," Twilight protested, "I've been so busy that..."_

_"Exhaustion is no excuse for tardiness," Cinch thundered. "You must always strive for perfection."_

_"Yes Principal Cinch," Twilight said unhappily._

"I thought at the time Cinch cared about her," Cadence said sadly, "but now I realize that all those 'admonishments' were so that Cinch would look good. I should've have realized that."

"Look don't blame yourself," Sunset sympathetically. "You honestly think Cinch was trying to help Twilight like she helped you. You never imagined she betrayed Twilight like you said. You thought she was family."

"You know," Cadence said. "I really wish Twilight met someone like you. I really felt you could've been a great friend."

"If only I hadn't scared her off," Sunset said angrily.

"Sunset," Cadence said, putting her hands on Sunset, "what happened was-,"

"I don't blame myself for what happened," Sunset said in a weak voice, putting her hands on her forehead, "But what I regret is not talking to her afterwards. She sounded like she really needed a friend. I could have found that out had I spoken to her for five minutes, I could've been a friend." Sunset pushed away her sadness. "Listen Cadence, there is another reason why I'm here, You have the pendant that Twilight had."

"Yes," Cadence said.

"In order to figure out what happened, I need that pendant." Cadence started to tear up. "I need-,"

"It's all I have left of him," Cadence said in a sad voice. Sunset had to fight the urge to give in to her tears, understanding what was at stake.

"I know," Sunset said in a quiet but firm tone. "But you need to understand. The magic I brought here is only going to keep growing more and more. Eventually, the public is going to get wise to it, and Equestria. If I can't figure out what went wrong, it could mean horrible relations for both our worlds, if people just assume magic does what it did to Connor." Cadence's face remained in that pained tone.

"I don't want people to think magic is just bad," Sunset said, her voice laden with desperation. "I see the good that magic could do for mankind, and the good human technology could do for Equestria. I don't want that opportunity gone because of my selfishness. I don't want that to happen to Connor and anyone else. I know you've already made sacrifices for Mr. But I need one more, for his sake and for the sake of both our worlds." Cadence sat there, her face full of pain. After a moment of hesitation, Cadence opened up the drawer, and pulled out the pendant. Sunset gave her a proud smile and she took it from her.

"I can make you one better," Cadence said, pulling out some keys. She stood up from her desk and walked out of the room, motioning for Sunset to do the same, who eagerly followed her out.

Cadence and Sunset marched to the science wing of Crystal Prep. Sunset followed behind Cadence, eager to see what surprise awaited her. Cadence marched toward some wooden door. She unlocked it, turned the knob, and opened the door for Sunset, who walked in.

Computers, files, equipment. That could only mean one thing...

"This is Twilight's lab," Cadence said. "If you need to figure out what happened, then the answer will lie in Twilight's research and equipment."

"You mean," Sunset began, astonished, "you trust me with Twilight's equipment?"

"I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of my trust," Cadence said happily. Sunset gave Cadence a hug, which she happily returned. "Now, can you get someone to pick this stuff up and bring it back to CHS?"

"My friend Applejack owns a pickup truck. We can drive by to pick it up tomorrow," Sunset said. "Thank you so much. I promise I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." Cadence said. "By the way, there are a couple more questions I'd like to ask you."

"Okay, spill." replied Sunset.

"How did you support yourself when you came here?"

"Well," Sunset said with a smile. "In my homeland, gold coins are currency. One gold there can get you a small dinner. When I left, I had the Equestrian equivalent of chump change in my bag. Can you imagine my surprise when I went to one of those "cash for gold" places."

_"How much can I get this," Sunset said as she poured a bag of bits onto the glass counter. "can I get, 100...dollars, or..." she paused as the human running the counter fainted from shock._

"Then I found out about the stock market and invested my gold money. I was thus set for life," Sunset finished.

"It's pretty fortunate," Cadence said, "that you didn't have to end up in poverty."

"I guess," Sunset said with a sigh, "but one of the reasons I turned out rotten is because I had so much money, I didn't have to rely on other people." Cadence looked at her with confusion. "Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad I didn't starve. But at the same time, having that financial independence meant I didn't learn about sharing and stuff."

"I see your point," Cadence said, "you didn't have to change because you were able to keep yourself fed. My second question is, who are the names of these princesses?" Sunset looked at her with a vacant expression. "You haven't given me a name for this princess who you were a student for, and the one who defeated and befriended you."

"National security," Sunset said, sheepishly.

"Alright," Cadence said begrudgingly, "I know when not to pry. But I ask that you try to be honest with me. I am giving you my trust."

"Alright." said Sunset. "And Cadence. Thanks for all your help!"

"It's my job," Cadence said. Both of them walked away, with a greater spring in their steps then in the past few days. Now confident that things may yet work out.

But what they didn't know, is that Connor and his friends are spying at Crystal Prep.

"I don't get it, Connor? Why does the people hate Crystal Prep?" asked Prim.

"Apparently the city's in an uproar about a dead student." said Connor, where the others know about his backstory, and how he ended up in Eostia.

"Well it is kinds hard, to go to a school with a bad image." said Vault.

"True." he said. "But I'm sure this school can change, for the better."

But the others turned and spotted Sci-Twi coming at their direction, they hid under the bushes to hide from her. Sci-Twi looked around to see that there is nobody around in the forest, and she went back to the parking lot, to wait for Cadence.

Connor felt bad for hiding from his friend, if Twilight found out that he's alive then the mission will fail. So Connor let everyone to think that he is dead, until he can find a way to stop Origa.


	13. The Mondays

Monday Morning, 7:45 AM

A green SUV drove down the street at a moderate speed. Driving it was Canter Zoom, the popular director. Despite his renown and wealth, he eschewed limos and overpriced sedans, preferring a more humble form of transportation. He drove with a hopeful expression on his face. It stood out against the morose expression of the person sitting in the passenger's seat.

"What do you think, June," Canter said happily while keeping his eyes on the road, "a new school, a new opportunity to make friends..."

"A new chance to get used again," June muttered unhappily. Canter sighed and shook his head. Using his rear-view mirror, he could see his niece wasn't exactly hopeful. She kept staring at the floor.

"June," Canter said, "those kids were jerks-,"

"Everyone at my school was a jerk. Either they never wanted me around, or they used me. Even mom and dad-,"

"How many times do I have to tell you." Canter said in an exasperated tone. "My sister and your father getting a divorce has nothing to do with you! They've had problems since before you were born. Your parents sent you to live with me BECAUSE they don't want you getting dragged into the mess."

"Yeah, sure," Juniper said, not convinced.

"Look," Canter Zoom said, "I'm sure you'll be able to find some friends, if you just act like yourself."

"Telling people about you was the only reason anyone paid attention to me," Juniper rebutted miserably.

"Well I can tell you, no one is going to pay attention to you if you keep acting like your mom's meatloaf," Canter said firmly. Juniper started chuckling at that. Canter smiled a bit. It helped lift her mood for a minute. She frowned again.

"The thing I like most, telecommunications, nobody else cared about back home," Juniper said solemnly.

"Well," Canter said excitedly, "this is a school that might. I mean, some of the smartest engineers in the country came from this school."

"Really," Juniper said, somewhat hopeful.

"Yeah. In fact, Dean Cadence told me that you can even perform your experiments in the science lab. It is a world-class facility."

"Well, I guess that sounds great," Juniper said, somewhat happily. "But I don't know if anyone else will care."

"Well, don't be afraid to ask, June," Canter said. "You'll never know what people are like. Just keep an open mind, and don't miss any opportunity to meet someone." As soon he's finished the sentence, he saw Crystal Prep only a short distance.

"Ah, here we are," Canter said excitedly. He pulled into the school, and parked at the curb near the entrance. "A place I can dump you for several hours so you won't get on my nerve," he replied facetiously. He saw Juniper smile, before giving him a light punch on the shoulder, which lightened his mood considerably.

"Anyways, when you get inside, go straight to Principal Cadence's office. She's a nice lady, and she'll help you out." Canter said to his niece, as she unbuckled her seat belt. "And remember to be positive and keep an open mind, ok?"

"I'll try," Juniper said with a smile as she opened the door to the SUV. She walked out of the car with her backpack over her arm. She watched as she saw her uncle drive away. As soon as he was out of sight, she turned back to the school, let out a heavy sigh, and marched toward the entrance with a resigned and solemn expression.

As she approached the entrance, she saw her future classmates hanging around it. She gulped as she imagined them eyeing her, the same way convicts watch new prisoners arrive, looking for easy meat to kill.

_'Just like my old school,' _she thought unhappily. Her steps were getting shorter and more heavy. _'These rich snobs will probably think of me as easy prey.'_

As she got closer, she noticed that none of the students were giving her the mean or judgemental, looks she expected. In fact, none of them seemed to be noticing her at all. And not because they were chatting. In fact, these kids looked sad and a little lost. It wasn't a case of the Mondays, but real loss.

She felt her pace quickening, as she felt a loud lift off of her, her apprehension replaced with curiosity.

As she approached the door, she turned back again, looking at the hollow and beaten look of everyone.

_'These people look like they saw someone die.' _Juniper thought as she opened the door and went inside.

20 minutes later

"Why are we going to her lab," Lemon Zest asked, as she and the other Shadowbolts walked through the halls.

"Well," Indigo said, "We can't really honor someone without knowing much about him."

"Which means we've got to start where she spent most of her time," Sunny said.

"Frankenstein's lab," Sugarcoat said in her usual deadpan. The Shadowbolts' all chuckled at their nickname for Twilight's personal lab.

"So what do you think we'll find in there," Indigi said.

"Well, we can't exactly tell her," Sugarcoat blurted out. Everybody glared at her, and she let out a tired sigh.

"Sorry," she said, her face more morose than usual.

"It's OK, Sugarcoat," Sour Sweet said with a warm smile. She then frowned. "Don't ever do it again!"

"Look, we can't just get angry," Sunny Flare said putting her hand on the knob. "The best we can do right now is honor him, and we can only do that by getting some info-" she swung the door open, and gasped at the room in shock.

"What," Sour asked.

"Everything's gone," Sunny said with a whisper.

"WHAT!?" blurted out the rest of the Shadowbolts, rushing into the room, brushing past Sunny on the way. They looked around, and saw the barely-lit room had indeed been picked clean. No equipment, no files, not even a trashcan.

"Where did everything go," Sour asked sadly. She then turned to Indigo Zap, with a glare. "Did you take it?!"

"What," Zap replied with disbelief. "I got here the same time you did Sour. Besides, why would I care about ner stuff?" Sour was about to raise her voice, but then thought it over, and shrugged.

"Maybe Cadence would know," Sunny said with her chin on her hand, "Let's go ask her." They all decided to walk to their new principal's office.

"Anyways, here is your schedule," Cadence said to Juniper, handing the document to her, who took with some pained resignation. Cadence saw the nervousness on the girl's face, but tried to hide it with a confident smile.

"Now go fill yourself up with some of that Crystal Prep spirit," Cadence said.

"Thanks," Juniper said politely, but forlornly. "I do the best I can." Juniper walked out without a word and decided to walk out.

Cadence sighed.

_'I've got to raise her spirits, somehow,' _Cadence thought, _'is she keeps acting like this, people will start to avoid her.'_

She was broken out of thoughts as she saw five girls approach her.

"Hey girls," Cadence said cheerfully, "what can I do for you?"

"Well," Sunny Flare said, morosely, "we wanted to ask you...um."

"Where is Twilight's stuff," Lemon Zest blurted out.

"Canterlot took it for research," Cadence said carefully. "Why are you asking?"

"Well," Sunny said carefully, "we wanted to have some kind of tribute to Connor, but we-,"

"We don't know much about him," Sugarcoat continued. "And we wanted to find out more, so we came to you."

"You do," Cadence said, in a surprised tone.

"I mean yeah, it was our fault," Indigo Zap complained.

"I told you girls that what happened wasn't your fault," Cadence said sternly. "You only did what you did because Cinch told you. You-"

"I know," Sugarcoat said, "but he was our classmate, so it is only fair that we honor him. Besides, Canterot High did a lot more to honor him then we did. Do you know anyone here who might have known about him."

"Well," Cadence paused. She stared at them oddly. She then went back to her computer and began typing furiously.

"Wait one second," Cadence said, to soothe their impatience. And began typing some more.

"I think I can help you with your tribute," Cadence said. "But there is something I want you guys to do for me."

"What is is," Sunny Flare asked.

"There's this girl who just transferred here," Cadence said. "Her name is Juniper Montage."

"So," Sour said.

"She's..." Cadence paused, sighed, and let out a breath. "Had some trouble making friends." She then printed up several copies of some document, and began drawing circles on them with a marker. "I discovered that you guys not only share some of your classes with her, but a lunch break." She handed them the document, revealing several school schedules, with the exact classes they shared with Juniper.

"So what do you want us to do," Indigo Zap said.

"Look, if you see her in her class," Cadence said, "maybe be friendly, or ask if you want to hang out. If you guys do that, I'll tell you all I know about Connor."

Much of the Shadowbolts looked uneasy at this chore of having to play friend to some stranger. Sunny looked at the document and remembered the soothing words from someone she cared about roaring back at her.

_"No. Here's what you can do. Find a girl like this other girl you didn't care about. A girl with no friends and with glasses, and who seems too smart for her own good. If you meet her, be the friend you wish you could've been to this other girl. Give her the love and care you wish you could give to the other girl. That is your mission, Sunny. Be the person you wish you could've been, and you will have repented."_

"We'll do it," Sunny Flare said excitedly.

"Well," the rest of the Shadowbolts said with less enthusiasm.

"Great," Cadence said happily. "Anyways, class is about to start, so I would get going."

The first bell soon rang, which signaled that it was time to get to class.

"By the way girls," Cadence said, stopping them from leaving. "what do you mean CHS honored him?" The Shadowbolts looked at her like she had been living under a rock.

"You didn't know," Lemon Zest said, confusedly. "They put up this really big poster of Twilight," Zest continued, spreading her arms as if to show it was that big.

"Really," Cadence asked.

"They even threw this concert," Zest excited, "apparently this tragic song was being played by this really hunky-,"

"Anyways," Indigo said, interrupting Lemon Zest's...Zest fo the guitarist. "If CHS is doing that for someone they don't know, why can't we do something like that for him."

"As I've said girls, I'll help you if you help Juniper," Cadence said. "Now please get to class."

"Yes, general," Sugarcoat said with a jest, as the girls turned around and walked away.

When the girls walked away, they turned to Sunny Flare with somewhat annoyed expressions, except for Sour Sweet, who retained an especially sour expression, which showed she in deep thought.

"Why did you volunteer us to play babysitter Sunny," Indigo said with some annoyance.

"Look," Sunny said with some seriousness. "I still remember how mean I was to Twilight and Connor. I want to prove that we can be better. We can do that by giving whoever this girl is a chance." She looked at them with sad, pleading eyes. "We owe it to him." Sugarcoat, Lemon, and Indigo looked contrite at that and sighed.

Sour however, remained pensive, thinking about what she had seen.

_'I know I saw what looked like Twilight,' _Sour thought, _'she was with those Canterlot jerks. And now they had her equipment.'_

"So what di you think they are doing with her equipment," Lemon asked.

"Trying to change the Earth's orbit," Sugarcoat quipped. "I don't know."

_'Or maybe she's working for them to discover magical stuff,' _Sunny thought angrily, as she walked with her friends to class.

Principal Luna sat at her desk, looking over some test papers when her office phone rang.

"Hello Luna," Cadence said.

"Hello Cadence," Luna said, "thank you for sending us the equipment."

"Did it arrive safely?"

"Applejack and her brother brought it here in their truck, and some other friends carried it into the science lab," Luna said.

"Great," Cadence said.

"I'm calling because well, I heard your students through an impromptu concert for Connor," Cadence said, sounding a bit confused.

"Oh yes, well, that was nice of them," Luna said, nervously.

"It seems odd they would throw a concert for someone they barely knew for, like, one day," Cadence asked, suspiciously.

"well," Luna said timidly, "you know how kids are."

"Do kids normally write romantic tragedy songs for people they barely know," Cadence pressed.

"You know," Luna said, gritting her teeth, "young love and all that."

"Certainly was young. It might have lasted, like, ten hours at best," Cadence continued.

"I'm sorry Cadence," Luna said abruptly. "I have a student who needs to wash their hair."

"Hair problem? wha-"

"BYE," Luna said, hanging up the phone and cringing over her idiotic excuse.

_'I hope Sunset can figure this out before Cadence comes to me with more tough questions,' _Luna thought. She smiled a bit. _'I know Sunset can figure this out.'_

"I don't think. I can figure this out," Sunset said nervously.

Sunset and Rarity were in the science lab, that the school had kindly allowed them to use in the early hours for their experiments. Sunset was scrolling on the computer, randomly looking at Twilight's data, graphs and charts, feeling overwhelmed by all the information packed in.

"It can't be that much," Rarity said.

"It's like, eight months worth of data," Sunset said exhaustedly, to which Rarity let out a polite sigh. "She's been collecting info since the Fall Formal, at least." She had tons of minute data sets, observations, and hypotheses in these notes and graphs. All of it demonstrated an obsession with learning and meticulous data collection.

_'Just like our Twilight,' _Sunset thought.

"Incredible isn't it, darling," Rarity said.

"What's that," Sunset asked.

"This Twilight was able to not only pick up on magic well before an older scientist did, but absorb it without even knowing what it was." Rarity looked at the pendant perched on the opposite side of the room. While it was necessary for their experiments, the device needed to have its magic absorption controlled before it could be used practically.

"Yeah she was the prodigy," Sunset said sadly, "She could've helped me out if I-"

"Sunset," Rarity said firmly. "I understand your anger, but you dumping on yourself is not merely pointless, but it makes you look terrible."

"I know but-," Sunset said.

"But nothing," Rarity interrupted, putting on her usual dramatic airs. "If you must do this task, you must face it bravely! With courage and dignity! With resolve and a stiff upper lip! And when you feel down, remember that I SHAL STAND BY YOU NO MATTER WHAT!" Rarity held a firm pose. Rarity's phone made a strong beep sound. "But later darling, I have sewing class. A bientot!" Rarity happily ran out, leaving an exhausted Sunset, who sighed, feeling overwhelmed again.

"No, she's right," Sunset said to herself, feeling pride and resolve flow through her body. "I acted lazy, and looked what happened. I've got to carry on!" Sunset said. "For him! For them! For the magic of-,"

"Miss Shimmer," Miss Cheerilee said, peeking through a crack in the door. "We can all hear you in there. Please carry on quietly,"

"Sorry," Sunset said blushing, returning to her work once Cheerilee left the room. She decided to open up a document. The earliest one that read September 10.

_'This shouldn't be too hard,' _Sunset thought. Until she opened up the word document and saw the page count.

She opened up and saw it was...

_'300 pages?! Aaaaah!' _Sunset screamed internally, while putting her head in her hands.


	14. A Sunny Day Helps Junipers Blossom

Sunny Flare normally was very disinterested in her Monday morning biology class. It was a subject she disliked, and doubly so that she had to take it while dealing with her Monday Blues. But this time, she was very alert, since her schedule told her that chemistry class was where she would find the girl she would end up babysitting.

"Hello class," said Profesor Percolate, walking through the door with a goofy smile on his face. He was a bald, bespectaded, blue-skinned man with a very tacky purple suit.

Like a lot of Crystal Prep's professors, he wasn't someone who just taught. He was an ex-chemist from a major biotech firm, who semi-retired to become a teacher.

"Hello Professor Percolate," the class intoned, with varying degrees of perfunctory enthusiasm. The tragedy of last week was making everyone for less enthusiastic.

"Now class," Professor Percolate said with some seriousness, "I know we are all upset with what happened, but we have to keep moving forward. The best way to do that is to learn with the zeal Connor once did."

Sunny Flare and others turned their heads toward the empty, front-row seat at his mention.

"Besides I've got something to lift your spirits," Professor Percolate said, "besides a high-pressure atmospheric environment!" He laughed alone at his science joke. He was one of those teachers who tried to make a subject "cool", but who would end up alienating people from the subject he was teaching in the process.

_'We don't want cool, we want to be able to understand it,' _Sunny Flare thought angrily.

The only one who was confused with any real enthusiasm was destroyed by some magical energy.

_'I never thought I would ever miss that,' _Sunny Flare lamented privately.

"But enough jokes," Professor Percolate said, "I'd like you to give a big welcome to Juniper Montage."

Sunny Flare perked up at the name, and watched as Percolate open the door.

In stepped this Juniper Montage. She was a bit short and skinny. She had tan-colored skin, her hair was seafoam green with streaks of blue, and it was tied into two pigtails with movie reel-shaped barrettes. She wore a Crystal Prep uniform and purple glasses, and was carrying some notebooks and textbooks. But what stood out to Sunny was her expression and nervous face. Her demeanor just screamed apprehension.

"So Juniper," Professor Percolate said with some cheer, "tell us about yourself."

A painfully bashful look appeared on her face.

"Well," Juniper said, bending her leg and looking at the ground a bit, "I like...um...movies..."

Sunny barely resisted the urge to let her face fall into her hands.

_'The girl is making herself into easy meat.' _Sunny said. She sighed as she heard some of her classmates whispering some not so nice things about the new girl. Except for Sci-Twi.

"That's very interesting," Professor Percolate said with some enthusiasm, like he's watching the world series. "Is there anything else you'd like to share with the class?"

"No," she said.

"Any questions for Juniper," Professor Percolate said, with some quiet pain on that last word, "I've postponed the Stem-cell Homework for tomorrow. So before we start our lab, lets do a quick review so that you all can do better." He stood up straight, getting into his usual questioning mode.

"OK, so who can tell me what is the basic idea of stem cell," Mr. Percolate asked.

"Uh," some male student with purple hair said sheepishly, "they can, like, become...stuff."

"Yes Turnip," Professor Percolate, sounding less then satisfied with Turnip's inept answer, "but can anyone tell me why they become...'stuff'." An arm from the front of the class raised itself. "Yes, Juniper!"

"Stem cells are body cells that can become all kinds of cells," Juniper intoned, souding like an encyclopedia. "They are from where body cells come from."

"Very good Juniper," Professor Percolate said. "Now can someone tell me the two main kinds of stem cells." Juniper raised her hand again. "Yes Juniper?"

"Embryonic and adult?"

"And what are the differences between the two?"

"Embryonic, because they are more of a blank slate, can turn into all kinds of cells, while adult cells are more limited?"

"Excellent," Professor Percolate said with a cheerful smile. "And can anyone tell me why people are obsessed with them." Turnip raised his hand.

"Yes Turnip," Professor Percolate said.

"Uh, they can be used...for medicine," Turnip, tried going out on a limb, and falling into a chasm.

"Ues, but why?" Juniper raised her arm again. "Yes Juniper."

"We can program cells to become certain kinds of tissue, we could use them to cure, like, degenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's or Lou Gehrig's Disease." She paused, feeling nervous at the attention before continued, "or we can use them in medical research to test out drugs without resorting to animals."

"Outstanding," Professor Percolate said, acting like he's watching the Super Bowl, Juniper let out a small smile. Percolate turned to the audience. "I ask that all of you try and focus as much as Juniper."

Sunny Flare and Sci-Twi felt a chill go down their spines when they started hearing mutterings of "Egghead" from everyone else.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way," Percolate continued, "let us start our lab. We will all be studying cell osmosis. Take notes on what you find. OK, so find your lab partner, and get out the microscopes."

Everyone got from their seats, and started shuffling around, looking for a lab partner, usually a friend to hang out with. Sunny watched as Juniper wasn't rising from her desk, not moving. She wasn't even trying to find a lab partner.

Then Sci-Twi came over to Juniper's side, where it looks like she got the courage to talk to her.

"Hey, do you want to be partners, with me?" said Sci-Twi.

"You want me to be, partners with you." Juniper spoked.

Sunny's eyes lowered in sadness, as she remembered a not-too proud memory.

_Sunny and Suri sat together in study hall. While they Should've been preparing for an exam or essay, they were instead gushing over a fashion magazine._

_"I would look so cute in that," Suri said._

_"I don't think that really is my color thought," Sunny said. A shadow loomed over them._

_"Hey girls," a nervous voice asked. The two looked up, and saw the Nerd looking over them, a giant encyclopedia in her hands._

_"What do you want, Nerd," Suri replied with annoyance. The lavender skinned girl rubber her arm._

_"Well..." the Nerd stammered, pushing her loose glasses up the bridge of her nose._

_"Wow, you've learned to use one-syllable words for once," Sunny said, a nasty grin on her face._

_"I, don't, uh," the Nerd continued to stammer._

_"In fact," Sunny continued, letting her teeth show, "I think you'd be better off if said NO syllable words."_

_"But..."_

_"Your voice causes more brain damage then football," Suri said, the two girls let out a chuckle at the Nerd's expense._

_"I just wanted to ask you girls if you wanted to study together for our biology exam," the Nerd said meekly._

_"Sure," Suri said. Sunny looked at her in confusion._

_"Really," the Nerd said. Suri shared a certain look with Sunny, and gave her a small wink. Sunny smiled in silent understanding._

_"Yeah sure," Sunny belted out almost enthusiastically. She pointed with her thumb. "Just walk toward the corner there, uh, where there's more space, and we'll join you."_

_"Great," the Nerd said, and started walking toward there, her back turned away from Suri and Sunny. When she looked back, she saw that the two girls were gone. She let out a sad sigh._

_In the hall nearby, the two girls peered into the study hall, and saw the Nerd sit down in the corner table, looking over the massive book._

_"Sparkle can take a hint, for once," Suri said with disdain._

_"If she's smart, she would just shut up and stop acting like a goody two-shoes," Sunny grumbled. Maybe if Sparkle acted less smart, then Cinch would get off her back._

_"Don't worry," Suri said, a cheerful grin forming on her face. "I'm going to make sure of that."_

_"What is it," Sunny asked, curious._

_"Don't worry," Suri said, acting like a parent who was hiding a surprise, "you'll see it at the party tonight."_

"Hey Sunny," Suri said.

Sunny was brought back to Earth by Suri's voice, and turned to see her friend there, microscope in hand.

"Sunny, you were drifting off a bit," Suri said, concerned, "are you OK?"

"Yeah," Sunny said with less-than-full conviction. She turned away from Suri, looking at the sad girl talking to Sci-Twi in the front, as a wise man's words echoed through her brain.

_"Turn away from evil. Turn away from selfishness. Turn away from cruelty."_

Sunny's jaw set, and she got up from the table.

"Sunny, I thought we were-," Suri asked.

"Sorry Suri, we can't be partners today," Sunny said. "I'm going to work with the new girl."

"What," Suri asked, somewhat hurt. "Why do you want to work with the New Girl," she said in a nasty tone.

"Well," Sunny stalled, trying to find an excuse and suppress her annoyance, "I really need an 'A', and that girl could get me that."

"I guess that makes sense," Suri said. "Just don't let her Nerd rub off on you," she said with some disdain.

"Sure, sure," Sunny said, trying to mask her disdain by clenching her teeth slightly, "I'll make sure of that."

_'You were crying tears about Connor,' _Sunny thought with annoyance. _'But now you want to spit on another girl. Were you sorry, or were you trying to look good?'_

Sunny suppressed her anger, and tried to put on her happy face as she approached Juniper, hoping she didn't come off too strong.

"Hey," Sunny said. Juniper jumped a bit, and turned around to see Sunny approach her. "You're Juniper right," Sunny asked in a somewhat enthusiastic tone.

"Yeah," Juniper said confusingly.

"I'm Sunny, welcome to CPA." She outstretched her hand. Juniper looked a bit confused at the gesture, but took the hand, getting a somewhat hardy handshake from Sunny.

"Thank you," Juniper said meekly.

"Want to be lab partners, with me," Juniper asked, as if the concept violated the laws of physics.

"I mean," Sunny said, thinking of a reason, "you really tore up those questions there. I am very... impressed."

"Really," Juniper replied, sounding somewhat hopeful.

"And, uh," Sunny stammered, trying to find an excuse. "I just love meeting new people, especially really smart people like you," Sunny said in a tone of feigned enthusiasm. Juniper let out an honest smile.

"Don't worry, I don't mind." said Sci-Twi.

"well, uh, OK," Juniper said excitedly, "let's get started then. I'll go get the microscope!" She got up. Sunny looked at Juniper walking toward the supply closet with happy confidence, and felt a bit of the edge taken off her.

She even felt a little joy.

Gym class was the one class where Indigo Zap felt at home. It had three of her favorite things exercise, competition, and the outdoors. She looked around as other fellow students started approaching, clad in their gym shorts and T-shirts.

"OK, girls," the gruff voice of Coach Squats said. The woman was over 6ft tall, with red skin and shoulder-length brown hair tied to a bun. She wore a plain white shirt, black shorts, and a cap. She looked like a sumo, but everyone knew she was built like a tank. "Let's do our warm-ups. 4 laps around the trac-,"

"Wait!" Someone shouted. Everyone turned to see the person who shouted. They saw a tan-skinned girl, running with the panic of someone who was late.

"I'm sorry I'm late, please don't start without me," the blue-haired girl said, panting after reaching the field.

"And you are," Squats asked, sounding unimpressed with the late girl, coughing her breath.

"Juniper Montage." Indigo flinched when she heard the name.

_'I have to watch out for THIS girl," _Indigo thought with dismay.

"Well Miss Montage," Squats said, sounding serious. "Let me make one thing clear! You don't get an A for just showing up! I'm not saying you have to make it to the finish line, or with the most points, but you have to put in the effort!" Squats paused, and stormed over to the short girl, who cringed as the massive woman loomed over her. "That includes being on time. You get one warning today, but next time you're late, you're gonna do 40 push ups! AM. I. CLEAR!"

"Crystal," Juniper said fearfully. Everyone chuckled at the unintentional pun.

"Now then," Squats continued. "Start running!" And with that, everybody in class was running around the track. Indigo, who enjoyed exercising in the early morning, was behind the crowd. Even though it was just the usual warm-up, she still took pride in her ability. She felt exhilarated by the heat, the feeling of the breeze in her face, and the thumping of her chest,

She looked behind her, and to her frustration, she saw Juniper well in the back of the group, running and looking winded.

_'I know I promise Cadence, but there's got to be something else I can do,' _Indigo thought with some frustration.

After a few minutes, Indigo and her class ran their four laps. They finished, feeling mildly exhausted. Behind her, Indigo saw that Juniper looked utterly exhausted. She was collapsing onto the asphalt track coughing.

"Oh man look at that girl," Lightning Dust said with a laugh to Indigo. "My grandma could run faster then her, and she's in a wheelchair," Lightning continued to laugh.

"Yeah, funny," Indigo said with some fake jest, not feeling particularly happy.

"OK girls," Squats bellowed. "Now time to do your daily calisthenics. 30 push ups, 50 sit ups, and 20 squat jumps. Find your partner, get on the grass, and get going."

All the girls in class started to look for their partners. Indigo stared at the winded girl lying on the asphalt, and started to think of another girl.

_Twilight and Connor stood in the middle of the grass field, lying down, trying to do push ups. Squats wasn't gonna let them leave until they completed their sets. They lifted themselves off the ground, feeling like they were carrying a ton of bricks on them._

_"Hey Sparkle, Nickell," Twilight and Connor looked up, and saw Indigo leering over them, with Lightning Dust and some other girls. They were giving them teasing stares._

_"Hey, uh, Indigo," Twilight stammered, "what do you-"_

_"Are you two in love with the grass," Indigo asked, trying to hold back a chuckle._

_"Why-"_

_"Either you can't do a push up, or you just love kissing the dirt," Lightning Dust said. Indigo, Lightning, and every other girl started laughing. Twilight looked down in shame, while Connor just glared at them._

_A thunderbolt struck, and it started to rain._

_"Oops, we better get out of this rain," Lightning Dust, as the first drizzle started to pour down._

_"Catch you later, you two," Indigo said. "Enjoy your boyfriend and girlfriend, the dirt." The girls left as the downpour started. Twilight and Connor continued to do push ups in the dirt, their hands becoming muddy and their clothes becoming soaked. She helped that the water falling down her face wasn't tears._

Indigo stared at the girl, with a sigh, began walking over to her.

"Indigo," Lightning Dust said, "where are you going?"

"I'm gonna be advising the new girl," Indigo said.

"What," Lightning Dust said with annoyance, "why do you want to waste your time on her?"

"Well," Indigo said. She then put on an angry, resentful look, "I don't want that loser to drag is down. If she doesn't shape up, Squats will end up punishing us! She'll either get in shape or die!"

"Good thinking Indigo," Lightning said. "But, well," she said shaking her head and letting out a contemptuous chuckle, "Not even a miracle will help that touch her toes."

"I'll do my best," Indigo said with some smothered anger, turning toward the somewhat hapless girl trying to do a push-up and failing.

The girl grunted, and fell when she saw a shadow looming over. She got up onto her knees, and saw a girl with yellow-sh skin and blue hair standing over her with annoyance.

"What are you doing," Indigo Zap said, voice dripping with contempt.

"What-,"

"What kind of push up was that," Indigo Zap said.

"I'm not good at sports, OK," Juniper said with some exasperation.

"Don't care! You are in my class, so you're gonna learn how to do it properly!" Indigo bent her neck to glare at the kneeling Juniper. "Got it!"

"OK," Juniper said.

"Now lie down, and get to work!" Juniper obeyed the athletic girl, lying down on her stomach. "Let's go, we don't have all day!" Juniper tried to do a push-up.

"Stop!" Juniper obeyed the order. "Get on your hands, your toes facing down, and your back flat." Juniper tried and failed to get in the right position. Indigo did a facepalm in exasperation, and awkwardly tired to make Juniper get into the proper position.

"Now go down," Indigo instructed. Juniper did so, straining. "Back straight." Juniper straightened her back, as she went down. "Now rise up." Juniper did, let out several grunts.

"Yes, I did a straight pushup," Juniper celebrated, as if she won a gold medal.

"You still gotta do 30 more," Indigo said with some exasperation. Juniper let out a tired sigh. "I'm just a toothpick with a flesh wrapping," Juniper lamented.

Indigo felt the urge to just leave this pitiful girl to herself.

_'No,' _Indigo thought to herself, furrowing her brow, _'I promised Cadence I'd help her out. Sunny said we should try and be better for him.'_

"Will you stop with the self-pity already," Indigo said, sitting down next to Juniper, who proceeded to more into a sitting position with her legs crossed. "Look don't feel bad that you aren't athletic now," Indigo said with an encouraging tone. "You can get better with enough practice. Do you think I got to where I am just by sitting around?"

"Well," Juniper replied.

"No!" Indigo interrupted. "I got up every morning, trained, exercised, practiced. Oh there were times when I wanted to quit, times where I felt I wasn't good enough. But I didn't let fear drag me down! I kept climbing, and climbing, and climbing. And that's what you are going to do if it kills me!"

"Why are you trying to help me," Juniper asked.

"Because..." Indigo said,l trying to look for an excuse. "Because I see potential in everybody. And because I know that when you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."

"No offense, but you sound like a third-rate self-help book," Juniper said, with some jest.

"Am I a good self-help book," Indigo asked with some jest.

"Ah," Juniper said. "I'll give you 2 stars out of 5."

"For that you are gonna do 700 pushups," Indigo bellowed facetiously. The girls let out a light chuckle at the joke.

"Look," Indigo said. "The point is, you don't get a good overnight, but with some help and some faith, I think you'll get good."

"You sound like my uncle," Juniper said with some annoyance. She let out an appreciative smile. "But he's a good guy, and so are you." Indigo felt touched by those words. Juniper lied down and started to do pushups again. The strain on her remained, but it felt a lot less painful and she had a bit more confidence.

Indigo watched the girl try. Her form wasn't perfect, but she was at least trying without despair. With that, Indigo let out a small smile of pride.

Lunch time had arrived at Crystal Prep's cafeteria. All the students were sitting among their vicious cliques, chatting about all kinds of subjects over their meals.

The Shadowbolts sat at their own table making all kinds of small talk, except for Lemon, who was lost in her headphones and rock music, as they awaited the arrival of their guest.

"So, how was everybody's day," Sour Sweet asked in a kind tone. No one bothered to answer her, expecting one of her mood swings. "Well, mine was lousy! I only got a 79 on Mr. Digit's math test!"

"You did better then I would've," Indigo muttered. Sunny's attention wasn't to the small talk being made by her friends, but toward the door, as she awaited her guest.

"A spoon would've done better then you," Sugarcoat snarked at Sour, who responded to the barb with a growl.

"Look," Sunny said, as the blue-haired, bespectacled girl burst through the doors looking a little lost, "she's here."

"Hey," Sunny said, waving her hand, trying to get the girl's attention. Juniper noticed, and began marching over. Sunny tapped Lemon on her shoulder to get her attention.

"OK girls," Sunny said to her friends, "let's give her our warmest Crystal Prep welcome."

"You want us to get life in prison," Sugarcoat snarked.

"Just be nice," Sunny pleaded. She saw Juniper close by.

"Juniper," Sunny said, "how are you?"

"Good, good," Juniper said cautiously. She spotted the budding athlete nearby. "Hey Indigo."

"Hey Juniper," Indigo said, "you keeping in shape," she asked in a warning tone.

"My sides still ache," Juniper said.

"Good, it means you are doing a good job." Juniper turned to Sugarcoat, Sour, and Lemon.

"So," Juniper said, awkwardly trying to break the ice, "who are you three?"

"That's Sugarcoat," Sunny said pointing to the stoic girl.

"Nice to meet you," Juniper said, extending her hand. Sugarcoat said nothing and stared at Juniper making her feel uncomfortable.

"Sugarcoat," Sunny whispered to Sugarcoat, who continued.

"Ow," Sugarcoat said, feeling Indigo's boots on her shin. She sighed and reluctantly extended her handshake.

"Did I di something wrong?" Juniper asked Sugarcoat.

"No, no Juniper," Sunny said. "Sugarcoat just isn't used to small talk or handshakes," Sunny glared at her, "but it would be nice if she didn't act like a sourpuss." Sugarcoat brushed off the taunt with a wave of her hand.

"And this is Sour Sweet," Indigo said, pointing to the rose-haired girl.

"It is really nice to meet you Juniper," Sour said happily.

"Well," Juniper said happily, "it is nice to meet you-,"

"Don't you dare touch my fries," Sour bellowed, protecting the fires on her plate like a hen protecting her eggs.

"I wasn't gonna," Juniper said, before sighing and said, "sorry if it looked like I was diving for your fries."

"Don't worry about it," Sour said kindly, before screaming "just don't do it again!"

"Anyways," Lemon Zest but in, "I'm Lemon Zest, and I love to ROCK! So what do you think of CPA, Junie?!"

"Well," Juniper's eyes looked down a bit. "It is nice." She stared down at her lunch tray and toward the Shadowbolts. "But there is something I've been wanting an answer to."

"What is it," Indigo asked.

"Did your old principal really make that Connor boy ride a faulty motorbike," Juniper asked with sadness. The Shadowbolts all looked down at their plates, their eyes full of sadness. "Uh," Juniper said, "so it did happen? Every time I've asked someone about it, they all just looked sad and walked away."

"Yeah," Indigo said, her eyes feeling heavy, "Cinch...got Connor killed," repeating the half-truth that everybody at CPA, student and staff alike, was to repeat as the official story. Juniper looked really horrified.

"I'm so sorry you had such a rotten principal," Juniper said sadly. "I mean, what monster puts a stupid contest above a boy's life!"

"A real...monster," Sour Sweet said, her eyes also feeling heavy. Juniper looked especially taken aback by Sour's sadness.

"Man, you must've really like him if you feel so down," Juniper asked. "Was he popular here."

"Wel, uh," Lemon started.

"You couldn't count the number of people you like him," Sugarcoat replied in a quietly pained tone.

"I heard that Cinch got fired," Juniper said, feeling upset, "but if you ask me, she should've been locked up for what she-," Juniper paused her rumination, as she saw the Shadowbolts were on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry for bringing up bad memories," Juniper said, feeling horrible. "I wasn't trying to beat a dead horse." She looked down, feeling terrible, "I should probably go for ruining your lunches."

"No Junie," Sunny said. "It wasn't...your fault. A lot of people," she paused, trying to hold back tears. "Would feel the same way." She wiped her eyes on her blouse. "Let's move on to a much lighter topic, like uh-," she paused. "During our chemistry class, June told me how she wants to work in broadcasting, and that she has an invention she thinks will change the world," Sunny said, her smiled sounding strained. "Tell them June."

"Well," Juniper said. "I'm planning on this weather balloon that could bring radio signals to underdeveloped nations," everyone put on forced smiles as they prepared to absorb this info dump. Juniper continued. "Through proper global positioning and adequate but cheap in infrastructure..."

Juniper continued her encyclopedia breath, as the other Shadowbolts patiently listened. After two minutes of pumped full of a science lesson, Lemon Zest finally managed to pull them out of it.

"Yeah, cool stuff Junie," Lemon interrupted which caused June to stop her lecture. "Anyways, I hear Bloodstorm's lead guitarist might star in the upcoming movie Rivers of Death."

"Really," Indigo said. "can the dude act?"

"Well," Lemon said. "He really tore it up at the concert last month, so that's giving him an opening."

"I wouldn't count on it," Juniper interrupted. "I hear Stringmaster is dealing with a nasty divorce, and he's likely out of acting until his personal like. Underneath that punk rock exterior is a real prima donna," Juniper continued. She paused as she saw that Shadowbolts staring at her. "What? What did I do?"

"Well," Sunny said carefully. "I never pictured you as a celebrity gossiper." The girl seemed to be in love with science, like a certain "friend" of theirs had been. She didn't seem to be the kind of girl who would care.

"Well," Juniper said, "I have this...friend, who is in the movie business, and he usually compla-, I mean, tells me all about celebrity turmoil and its effects on the movie industry."

The girls leaned their heads toward her, genuinely interested.

"So what is going on with Stringmaster?" Lemon Zest said, unusually focused.

"Well," Juniper said, a confident expression on her face appearing. "I hear his girlfriend might be seeing another guy, of course it might be jealousy talking but..."

Sunny looked at Juniper with awe. In a few seconds, Juniper went from shy girl to smooth, celebrity gossip. She felt a bit of joy that she might have something in common with Cadence's charge.

_'I thought I was going to be this girl's babysitter. But...this might not be so bad after all,' _Sunny thought as she listened to the girl share some juicy celebrity info


	15. Keeping an Open Mind

Monday Afternoon, 3 pm

With class over, CPA's students filed toward the Crystal Prep entrance, where they would get their rides home. The somewhat tired Shadowbolts walked toward the entrance, Shadowed by a very animated Juniper.

"It was really fun hanging out with you guys," Juniper said happily. "Thanks for showing me around."

"No problem, June," Sunny Flare said with a small smile. "If there is anything you need..."

"Yeah sure," Indigo Zap interrupted with a somewhat tired expression. "Look June, we'd love to stay and chat, but we all got that...art project we were working on."

"Project," Lemon Zest asked in confusion. "What art-," a subtle tap on the foot from Sour cut off that thought, "Oh, right we were working on an...embroidery, right girls?" Lemon Zest and the other Shadowbolts gave each other sly looks, except for Sunny, who looked a bit annoyed.

"Wow," Juniper said, "they actually teach that? I wish I could help, but I've never been good at...well sewing stuff."

"One of the thousand things, probably," Sugarcoat muttered.

"What's that supposed to-," Juniper asked before a honking horn cut her off. June saw a green SUV pull up. "Oh, that's my ride, you guys! I'll see you tomorrow!" Juniper said happily, as she ran to the SUV.

"See ya," the Shadowbolts said in unison as she ran off.

Juniper ran to the SUV and happily got in. Her uncle wore a jovial face.

"I see by your very happy face that you must've had a terrible day," Canter Zoom joked. Juniper snickered a bit at that.

"I met these five girls, and they all wanted to hang out with me," Juniper said, a warm smile on her face.

"See," Canter Zoom said in an 'I told you so' voice, "as long as you stayed positive than positive things would happen. Tell me about them."

Juniper felt a joy she hadn't felt in a long time. For the first time, she was excited to be in school, because she knew she would have five friends to help her out.

"Well, I'm glad that was over with," Indigo said as they watched the SUV pull away.

"What do you mean by that," Sunny said with some confusion. "And what the hell were you going on about with an embroidery?"

"We were trying to get rid of June so she would stop talking her head off," Sugarcoat said. Sunny felt it a bit of discomfort at those words.

"Yeah, that girl was like Twilight times 1000 with movie trivia," Lemon Zest uttered.

"Sp, are we gonna hang with her tomorrow right," Sunny asked with some discomfort. She was dismayed by the uncomfortable expressions her friends wore.

"Well, uh," Indigo said, rubbing her head.

"But guys," Sunny Flare complained, "I promised Father-I mean, we promised Cadence-,"

"To show her around and hang out with her once," Sugarcoat said stoically. "Not to hold her hand for the rest of the school year."

"But she's nice," Sunny Flare retorted.

"Oh yes, she is real nice," Sour said kindly. Her smile turned to a grimace, "and real annoying!"

"Look," Lemon Zest said. "We already did our job. Now let's focus on getting as much data from Cadence as we can. We still got to find a way to honor Connor." The rest of the Shadowbolts remembered their initial task for Connor."

"I guess," Sunny said, feeling uncomfortable. Sunny considered Juniper to be nice, but she was a chatterbox who talked about dumb facts. An uneasy feeling swelled in her stomach. She ignored it as they went to the office of their Dean-turned-Principal.

"Hello girls," Cadence said happily, "Juniper stopped by my office with a smile on her face. "Thank you so much for watching out for her today."

"Don't mention it," Sour Sweet said happily. "Seriously, don't," Sour muttered under her breath. Sunny gave out a quiet sigh.

"Anyways," Cadence said, "I'll fulfill my end of the bargain." She pulled out her keys. "Let's all go out to my car."

"Where are we going," Lemon asked.

"To my house," Cadence said. "That's where I keep my best memories of Twilight."

"Why do you have memories of Twilight in your house?" Lemon Zest asked.

"I'm," Cadence paused, taking a breath, "I'm her sister-in-law." The Shadowbolts looked stunned at that.

"Your her sister-in-law," Indigo asked in confusion.

"Well, after a while, I considered Twilight to be my real sister," Cadence said, with a twinge of sadness that made the Shadowbolts feel heavy.

"Why didn't Twilight ever tell us the Dean is her sister," Sunny Flare asked with some dismay.

"Because she wanted people to like her for who she was," Cadence said, the words washing over them. "Anyways, let's go to my house." The Shadowbolts followed along, loaded with questions.

The Shadowbolts and Cadence drove home in the latter's red minivan. After a half-hour drive, they reached her house. It was a somewhat fancy, two-story home, with a purple exterior, stone columns in the front, and an average green lawn.

Cadence and the Shadowbots entered what appeared to be a small foyer, with purple-carpeted stairs that lead into what were presumed to be bedrooms.

"What's that noise," Sour said. Everybody heard faint sounds of laughter and barking coming from the room in the right. The Shadowbolts and Cadence followed the sound and entered what was a den.

Sitting on the fuchsia couch in the purple-colored den was a blue-haired, white-skinned man and a purple dog in his lap. And by their side is, Connor's family with their dog.

"That's Shining Armor, Twilight's brother," Cadence said quietly.

They both looked utterly forlorn as they stared at a TV screen. With its shaky camera and poor sound, it looked like a home video.

_"Oh he's a good dog isn't he," _a man asked offscreen, presumably the person holding the camera.

_"Oh yes he is," _Twilight said cutely as she walked over to pet the puppy. _"He is the best canine ever!"_

Spike let out a whimper, and felt Shining pet his back. Shining blinked as if trying to hold back tears, as he watched the video of his younger sister.

Cadence and the Shadowbolts sat their silently watching both the video, and the pair on the couch. Cadence looked with utter concern, while the Shadowbolts looked like they were on the verge of tears.

After a moment of silence, Cadence tried to get Shining's attention.

"Shining," Cadence said softly. Neither Shining nor Spike seemed to hear, not even Connor's family, continuing to stare at the screen, which showed what looked like Twilight and her father playing catch, with Spike trying to keep up with the ball.

_"Come on Spike, get the ball," _said a woman now holding the camera with an excited tone.

"Shining," Cadence said more firmly. He briefly turned his head and saw Cadence and the Shadowbolts. He immediately shut off the TV, jumping up. Spike dove out of his lap and onto the floor.

"Hey Cady," Shining said, trying to put on a happy face. He glanced uneasily toward the girls who were behind her. "Who are...them?"

"Twilight's...classmates," Cadence said. "They came here to-," she paused when she saw Spike on the ground, growling and looking like he was about to attack.

"Spike are you," Cadence asked before Spike charged.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU," Spike bellowed as he charged toward the Shadowbolts, who step backed in fear. "I'M GONNA TEAR YOUR FOOT-" he went on before being held back by Cadence who grabbed him by his collar.

"Go get'em, Buddy!" yelled Owen, and the dog named Buddy charged at the Shadowbolts. But Sci-Twi grabbed him by his collar.

"Spike stop," Cadence said. "You can't bite a person. They'll put you to sleep!"

"Why not," Spike shouted. "They killed Connor, they're the reason he's dead!"

"What," Shining asked, looking toward the Shadowbolts with a measure of confusion and dismay. The Shadowbolts all bowed their heads in shame, unable to meet his eyes.

"They told Twilight to open that thing, and now he's gone," Spike bellowed, still trying to attack the Shadowbolts.

"You told her to open it," Shining asked the Shadowbolts, in a voice that radiated quiet despair. The Shadowbolts continued to stare at the ground in shame, expecting anger. "You made her...?"

"No Cinch did," Cadence said, her voice full of tearful frustration as she and Twilight tried to restrain the two angry dogs. "Yeah they told Twilight to open the amulet, but only because Cinch said it would help them win."

"Yeah we didn't know," Indigo Zap said, tears falling down her face. "we didn't want this to happen!"

"Yeah, we swear," said Sunny Flare. "We-"

"Yes, you did." Spike interrupted, no longer tugging at his collar, his fury replaced with wet tears, "You wanted them gone. You and everyone in that school was so mean to them. You never liked them. You never bothered to..." Spike broke down, and collapsed onto the floor in tears. Shining walked toward the crying dog and picked him up.

"Come on buddy," Shining whispered sadly to the grieving dog, "let's go to the park." He walked out of the room along with Connor's family, not even looking at the Shadowbolts, as they walked out of the house. The Shadowbolts felt a sad chill as they saw them leave the house.

"Mr. Armor," Sugarcoat said in a pleading tone, "please we never meant-," the door slammed shut before Sugarcoat could finish.

"They really hate us don't they, Sunny asked Cadence. The principal responded by putting a comforting arm on Sunny's shoulder.

"Girls they don't blame you," Cadence said in a soothing tone. "They blame Cinch. I promise they aren't mad at you."

"Oh yeah they seem really happy," Sour said cheerfully, before frowning and crying. "that's why they ran out of the house! Because of what we did to him!"

"They're just upset about what happened," Cadence said, her lip started to quiver a bit. "and you guys being here," she let out a breath, "is just bringing their hurt to the surface. They understand that is was Cinch's fault. And they'll calm down after a bit."

"Her parents must feel terrible too," Lemon Zest. "Who are Twilight's anyway, I don't think I've ever seen them around." She paused as Cadence looked again like she was about to cry.

"Principal Cadence," Sunny asked. "are you OK?"

"No," Sci-Twi said, "my parents died a few years ago." The Shadowbolts looked even more downcast at that. "Shining and Cadence have been raising me for several years."

"I'm sorry," Lemon Zest replied, tears coming down her cheeks. "I didn't know-" Lemon Zest paused when Cadence pulled her into a comforting hug.

Sunny turned to the door Shining Armor and the family walked out of, staring in shame.

_'That poor guy lost his parents, and now that family lost their son because of us,' _Sunny thought to herself. She looked at Cadence, amazed that the woman could keep it together, despite everything she went through.

"Don't worry about it," Cadence said, releasing the hug and letting the forlorn see a reassuring smile. "We keep moving forward." Cadence went to a nearby bookshelf, and pulled out a photo album labeled "Twily's Memories." The Shadowbolts gushed at the childish name.

"So, let's start with my favorite story," Cadence said turning a page, and gesturing to a picture of Little Twilight wearing water wings and a one-piece suit.

"Aww," Sunny Flare said. "she looks so adorable."

"Oh yes," Cadence said in a tone of amused exasperation. "But it was a hassle to get her to go swimming."

_Twilight kept hiding in her room, not wanting to come out._

_"Twilight," Cadence said. "Time for your swimming lesson."_

_"No," she said. "I don't want to be in the water. That is where sharks are._

_"Twilight," Cadence said. "There are no sharks in a pool. You might like it."_

_"I don't want a shark to bite me," Twilight shouted._

_"OK Twily," Shining Armor said. "You asked for this." Using his good shoulder, and ran into the door prying it open. Seizing the opportunity, the two grabbed a squirming Twilight, carrying her to the car._

"So you had to literally drag her to the car to get to her to do swimming," Indigo said with a chuckle.

"Yeah," Cadence said, sighing over some fond memories.

"So I guess she must bombed her first swimming class," Sunny said.

"Not really," Cadence said, a somewhat proud smile. "She did her laps, but not in the way you expect."

_"She didn't go in the water," Cadence asked the swimming coach, a middle-aged svelte woman in a lifeguard uniform. The woman had blue skin and periwinkle hair. They were in the community center swimming pool. It was the end of the swimming lesson, when the various children's parents and guardians came to pick them up._

_"She was too afraid of sharks," the coach replied with some dismay. "So I just sent her to the small kiddie pool." She pointed at Twilight who was blissfully wading in two inches of water in one of those inflatable pools seen in backyards. Cadence ran her hand along her face with a sigh._

_"Look, I think she just needs some special training to get her used to the-,"_

_"Spike, get back here," Shining Armor shouted as he chased after the puppy wanting to be reunited with his master._

_"How did the dog get here," the swimming instructor said with confusion._

_"He really loves Twilight," Cadence said, watching with a smile as Twilight scrambled out of the pool to run up to her best friend._

_Just as Spike was running, another kid wanting to greet his mon ran, and accidentally knocked Spike into the pool._

_"Spike," Twilight shouted with fear. Everyone in the pool started running toward the flailing puppy trying to keep itself afloat._

_"Don't worry Twilight," the lifeguard shouted, climbing to her feet, "I'll get your dog out." But before the swimming coach could get in, Twilight dove into the pool. Her swimming was choppy, even with water wings, but she still managed to reach the drowning Spike._

_"Don't worry Spike," Twilight said, gasping and choking on water. "I'll," she spat out more water, "I'll save you." Despite how hard it was to swim, she was able to reach the edge of the pool, gently putting Spike on top, while holding onto the edge._

_The kids started running toward the half-drowned puppy out of concern, while the swimming coach pulled an exhausted Twilight out of the pool, a proud smile on her face._

"Wow," Indigo said, "are you saying she overcame her fear of the water to rescue her dog?" The other Shadowbolts were awed by this story.

"Yes she did," said Cadence. "she loved Spike that much."

"The truth is, it is kind of hard to picture her overcoming her fears," Lemon Zest said, "she seemed to be-,"

"A weakling with no backbone," Sugarcoat uttered. Lemon and the other Shadowbolts shot her an annoyed glare, but Cadence just rolled her eyes. Sugarcoat let out a sigh. "Sorry. I never realized she was capable of that."

"This is why you should keep an open mind," Cadence said. "People can be more than their covers if you just give them."

After a few hours of storytelling, the Shadowbolts went home, having gained enough information and some pictures to do a proper memorial for Connor.

Sunny sat home, thinking about all the things she learned about Twilight.

From silly stories, to the fact she had designed her own treehouse, planned out her college education, and even made blueprints for her own ideal room, all before she was even 14.

She remembered a lot of those academic trophies she saw, and sighed as she remembered a lot of them were won by the lavender-skinned girl, who always seemed to be alone in those pictures.

She remembered how despite having the best connection any CPA student could have, she never tried to pull rank to get popularity.

Then she remembered the not so pleasant things she learned about Twilight, like losing two parents, and her father in a way that made Twilight think she was responsible.

_'She lost two parents, itis no wonder she was always so withdrawn,' _Sunny thought to herself. _'If I had just known that, I wouldn't have been so-'_

No, Sunny refused to brood. She would not ruminate, she would move on, she would turn back and be better.

She heard a beep from her phone. She saw a message from Suri.

"Hey girl," the message said. "remember. Party plans tomorrow."

Sunny felt excited, she was finally going to host a bog April Party in her house this Wednesday. An honor reserved only for the creme de la creme of CPA's student body. She was excited about all the snacks and fun she would get to plan.

"Sure. See you at 10 tomorrow," Sunny texted back. She opened her computer up to MyStable, and saw a friend request from Juniper. She clicked on it.

An idea sprouted into her mind. She thought to her party, and then she thought it would be a great place for Juniper to meet some potential friends. But still, Juniper wasn't exactly a social butterfly, and she saw her friends weren't eager to spend another day with her.

_'If she wasn't so boring, I would invite her,' _thought with some annoyance. But then she remembered Cadence's words.

_"This is why you should keep an open mind. People can be more then their covers if you just give them a chance to prove themselves, and sometimes you'll find a friend when you least expect it."_

Sunny drummed her fingers on the keyboard hesitating to put her reputation on the line. Then she remembered her promise to Connor. Putting aside her frustration, she sent Juniper an invite through MyStable.

After ten seconds, Juniper responded.

"Sure. I'd love to come. See you tomorrow :):):)," Juniper replied. Sunny sighed.

_'Maybe Juniper could be lots of fun.' _Sunny said, keeping an open mind, and hoping things would work out for the best.


	16. Experiments and Choices

Tuesday Morning, 6 AM.

Sunset sat in the lab, fiddling with the screwdriver, trying to get the device just right. She gritted her teeth as she twisted the screw. Her eyes, baggy and bloodshot, remained solely focused on her work. Her hair, unkempt and shoddy, was tied into a ponytail. She could not make one mistake, or she would be back to square one. She felt sweat bead down her neck. She had to do this right.

When the screw was installed, Sunset let out a sigh of relief. She looked up and saw a pink flesh and fur in front of her.

"AHH," Sunset yelled, disturbed by the sudden intrusion. Once she saw who it was, she let out an annoyed grunt.

"Pinkie, what are you doing here," Sunset growled with some exasperation, "Didn't you read the 'Do Not Disturb Sign'?"

"Yes," Pinkie said cheerfully, not feeling an ounce of guilt, "but I also read the 'I'm tired and need some fun' sign on your face and decided you needed some cheering up."

"Pinkie I am not tired," Sunset said, before letting out a heavy yawn, "I'm just-,"

"That's why I brought my Pinkie Pie-brand Coffee Cake," Pinkie Pie said, pulling out a white box with a clear plastic top. "It is delicious and it will help you stay awake." The coffee cake was covered with white frosting, and words written in red icing that made Sunset's heart soar.

"We Believe In You Sunny."

Sunset looked almost on the verge of tears. She held them back, and gave her pink-haired friend a warm hug.

"Thank you so much Pinkie," Sunset said, her voice full of warm gratitude, "This means a lot to me." Pinkie was an oddball, sure. But in the end, she just wanted everyone to be happy.

"Just cheer up," Pinkie said as Sunset released her from her hug. "Don't let what happened keep you from being happy."

"Sure," Sunset said, returning to her workstation.

"So, whatcha doin'," Pinkie asked with the curiosity of a bored cat.

"Trying to get the amulet to capture our thermic energies in an efficient and stable manner to avoid a future calamity," Sunset said. Pinkie just stared at her with a smile.

"Oh, are we playing the gibberish game," Pinkie said jumping up and down with joy. "can I go next? I'll-,"

"Pinkie," Sunset yelled, cutting off Pinkie's jabbering. Sunset let out a sigh before muttering, "Man I've been reading so much of Twilight's stuff, I sound like an encyclopedia." Sunset let out a chuckle. "I am trying to build another amulet." She pointed at her desk. It was covered with Twilight's old amulet with the parts needed for a new amulet. "In order for me to study magic, I need to be able to contain it."

"Why not use Twilight's," Pinkie said. "I mean, Human Twilight's."

"Because it isn't safe," Sunset said. Human Twilight did OK for someone who didn't even know what magic was, but she didn't put in safety measures to properly absorb the magic." Pinkie gave another blank stare. "I'm trying to build an amulet that will let me control how magic I absorb so that the next one that won't suck up all the magic and vaporize the nearest person."

"Why not just fix the old one," Pinkie asked.

"Because I still don't know how it really works, and if I break it by accident, I lose any chance of being able to properly capture the magic," Sunset sighed.

"If only Human Twilight were here," Pinkie said, "then maybe she could tell you-," Pinkie paused when Sunset gave her an angry glare. "Sorry."

"It's OK, Pinkie," Sunset said with some exasperation.

"Anyways," Pinkie said. "I have to get to the diner." Pinkie turned around and left the room with a happy grin. "See you later, Sunny. Have fun."

"See ya," Sunset said kindly to Pinkie, watching the other girl leave with a tired smile. She returned to her work with the new amulet. She looked at it hopefully.

"Well I should try to give it a field test," Sunset said. She pulled on some safety goggles and lifted the amulet. It was similar in appearance to Twilight's except instead of being various shades of purple, it was various shades of red. She pointed it toward herself, and pushed the button.

The amulet opened up and began to slowly absorb some of Sunset's magic. Sunset flipped a switch, and it stopped. Sunset let out a grin that resembles that of a child in a candy store.

"It worked, it worked," Sunset yelled happily, "yes, yes, yes, yes!" she said happily jumping around. "I finally managed to get it to-," she paused when she began to feel her amulet shaking. Soon, she started to feel the amulet heat up on her chest.

"Ow," Sunset said, feeling the amulet burn through her clothes. In a panic, she flung it against the floor. It cracked open, releasing a burst of her magic. Sunset ducked as it began to ricochet across the room. She heard the sound of glass breaking, and stood up.

She saw that the magic burst broke one of the windows in the room. Everyone nearby ran over to the commotion, looking through the broken window at Sunset, with apprehensive looks on their faces. Sunset approached the window and saw that behind the crowd, Connor in disguise was lying on the ground quickly regaining consciousness, he sat up as smoke poured from his body, with two students running over to help him.

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What happened?" Connor asked in confusion.

"Celestia damn it," Sunset muttered as she ran her hand along her face.

Study Hall, Crystal Prep Academy, 10 AM.

Sunny went into the commons room where most CPA students spent their study halls. AS usual, only about 10% of students actually used their time for anything except for chatting and video games.

When she saw Suri at the table, she immediately ran over to her.

"Hey Suri," Sunny said, taking a seat next to her, "how are you?"

"What were you thinking," Suri said with an incredulous look on her face.

"What do you mean," Sunny asked, confused.

"Why did you invite someone to the party without asking me," Suri said with a frown on her face.

"What do you mean," Suri pulled up her laptop. On the screen was the MyStable group page set up for the party. Suri pointed at the picture of a blue-haired girl with pigtails.

"Oh Juniper," Sunny replied.

"Sunny, you know the rules. My party os for the creme de la creme, not some needy little nerd like...Tulip," Suri's face twisted into absolute disgust. "I don't want..._that_ into my party." Sunny narrowed her eyes slightly at Suri's use of the word "that", as if Juniper was some subhuman creature and the fact that Sunny did not even get her name right.

"I'm sorry Suri," Sunny replied, trying to ignore that she was unconsciously clenching her fist. "But...I had no choice."

"What do you mean," Suri said angrily. Sunny paused, trying to think of an excuse.

"Juniper is...tutoring me," Suri said. "My parents cut my allowance, so letting her into the party was the only way I could pay her."

"Then just get her a milkshake or some nerd thing," Suri said with some disdain.

"Uh...Juniper whined to Cadence about how mean I was to her," Sunny said, her eyes looking down for a second. "If I don't let her into the party, Cadence will give me detention."

"Oh so _Tulip _is just a wimpy little rat," Suri growled, her eyes narrowing. "I definitely don't want _that_ at my party." Suri took a deep breath, and grinned. "You know what to do."

"What," Sunny said. Suri rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Tell her the address of the party changed," Suri said as if she was speaking to a small child "and give her an address that will send her on the other side of town. If she's smart, she'll get the message then that she's not welcomed."

"Uh, are you sure that will work," Sunny said, her stomach starting to feel like it was full of bile.

"Of course it will work Sunny," Suri said, giving her an unhappy smile that made Sunny feel cold. "It better. I would hate for our friendship to end because you got soft on some loser." Suri said in a not-so-sad tone, as if Suri's trust was the most valuable thing in the world. Suri then stood up and pressed her face up against Sunny's, giving her a vicious grin. "You don't want to ruin my trust...do you?"

"No Suri your right," Sunny said, feeling cold sweat run down her face as the small warning Suri was giving her. "I'll make sure she gets the wrong address."

"Good." Suri said a satisfied smile on her face. "Anyways, let's decide what snacks we want. Nothing with peanuts because Fleur is violently allergic..." Sunny listened as Suri babbled about the party plans. Sunny responded and gave ideas, while trying to suppress a feeling of anger brewing in her brain.

Sunny left the commons room, having completed half the work for the party. She made a mental note to start shopping for a surprise after class with Suri. She was too engrossed in her list, she didn't notice someone walking up to her.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper said with a happy face.

"Hey June," Sunny said, trying to give her an honest smile. "How are you?"

"Good," Sunny said. "Uh, listen Juniper there is something I wanted to tell-,"

"I just wanted to say thank you so much for inviting me to your party," Juniper interrupted with a smile. "Without the help of you and your friends, I would be really lost here. "You've made me feel like I'm a part of something."

"Uh, don't mention it," Sunny said with a forced smile trying to suppress the guilt brewing in her stomach.

"Anyways," Juniper said. "You were saying?"

"I was saying," Sunny said. She paused for a few moments. "I was, uh, saying that you can wear casual clothes at the party. We aren't wearing anything fancy."

"Thanks for letting me know," Juniper said. She looked at her watch. "I got to get to my class. See you later." Juniper turned around and walked away.

"Yeah, see you," Sunny said quietly, watching Juniper ran off. She then put her hand to her face and sighed.

_"What am I gonna do?" _Sunny thought to herself sadly. She then looked up and smiled. _"Maybe If June proves herself, Suri will accept her," _she reassured herself. She walked to class, thinking of a plan to make June the toast to the party.


	17. Having Fun Is Hard Work

Tuesday Afternoon, 2:59 PM

Juniper was reading over her homework assignment when she saw Sunny approach her with a warm smile.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper said. "what's happening?"

"Not much," Sunny replied. "Um, I was wondering if...you wanted to come over after school." Juniper gave Sunny a happy grin.

"I would love to come over," Juniper said cheerfully. "what's the occasion?"

"Well, the party is a pretty important thing. I want to help you...prepare for it."

"Sure," Juniper said.

"Great," Sunny said, pulling out a list from her backpack. "Here is a list of things we are going to go over."

"Sure," Juniper said, her voice trailing off as she saw the list tumble to the floor, and roll a few feet away. She meekly took the list from Sunny. "This is...a long list." She said, glancing at it. "I never knew...parties were so complicated."

"Oh, you have no idea," Sunny said with exhaustion. She looked behind Juniper and saw Suri coming toward her, with her assistant Coco trailing behind her. Suri's eyes narrowed when she saw Juniper, and she began storming toward her, with Coco trying to keep up.

"OK, Juniper. I really have to go, see you at 5 PM," Sunny said quickly, before turning away from a confused Juniper. She ran toward the pair to prevent Suri from coming toward her.

"What did that loser want," Suri said with a snarl.

"Um..." Sunny said, thinking of something. "The..._loser_ was asking me to hang out with her."

"And what did you tell her," Suri said with a glare.

"What do you think I told her," Sunny said, pretending to wear a cold smile. She struggled not to shake as Suri gave her the grin of a cruel beast.

"Good," Suri said. "We don't want trash like that around us," she turned toward her assistant. "Isn't that right Coco."

"No Miss Polo-I mean, Suri," Coco said meekly. "Not at all." Coco was even mousier then Juniper. If not for the face Coco and Suri's parents were business partners, the two girls would never interact with one another.

"Anyways," Suri said. "Let's head over to Party Place for supplies."

"Party Place is a really good place for supplies," Coco said in a sycophantic tone, "they've got-,"

"Shut up Coco," Suri yelled.

"Sorry, Suri." Coco looked down, away from the judging eyes of Suri. Sunny was well aware of Suri and Coco's so-called relationship. Normally, Sunny would ignore it, seeing Coco's problems as her own business. But today, she suddenly began to feel a pang of sympathy for Coco. She wouldn't reveal it to Suri: though.

"Anyways," Suri said, "let's get to shopping."

The trio stepped into Suri's luxury sedan, which Coco drove, as if she was some chauffeur. Suri and Sunny chatted about events.

"So the first hour is for truth or dare," Suri said, going over her notes.

"Yeah," Sunny said, looking at a notebook. "Second hour is pillow fight, third is karaoke..."

"I hope this year's party turns out better than last year's party," Sunny said.

"Oh don't worry," Suri said. "With proper organization and the right kind of people, everything will go smoothly." She saw the store coming up. "Here we are!" Coco pulled into the parking lot of Party Place. The three stepped out of the car.

"Get the cart," Suri ordered Coco. The short girl silently got the cart and began pushing it.

Suri and Sunny began collecting the items needed for a great party: food, decorations, party games, a few clothing items, etc. After an hour of shopping, the trio had filled the cart. Coco was exhausted pushing the now loaded cart, which only Sunny seemed to notice.

"You think she needs help," Sunny asked Suri. Suri's eyes were locked onto her phone, walking as if the entire world did not exist.

"Mmm," Suri muttered, clearly not paying attention. Sunny sighed with slight annoyance as she walked with Suri Sunny let out a small smile.

"Suri," Sunny said in a fake panic, "your skirt is on fire."

"Mmm," Suri said not paying attention.

After leaving the checkout counter, Suri having paid for everything with one of those unlimited credit cards, the trio went to the car.

"Coco," Suri said, gesturing with her thumb toward the trunk. "get everything loaded up."

"Yes Suri," Coco said, her voice betraying nothing. Suri thanklessly walked to the car, her eyes once again turned toward her phone. Sunny started at the girl lifting all the heavy plastic bags into a trunk. She watched as the girl grunted each lift. After a few moments, Sunny decided to approach Coco.

"Hey Coco," Sunny said. "Do you want some help?" Coco looked shocked for a moment as the suggestion, before letting out a happy grin.

"Sure," Coco said. "I'd love that." The two packed all the supplies into Suri's car, before taking off. After a half-hour of driving, Coco dropped Sunny off at her house.

"OK Sunny I'll be back tomorrow at 5," Suri said as Sunny got out of the car. "Coco, home," Suri ordered Coco.

"Yes Suri," Coco said. She stopped to let out a wave to Sunny, who returned it. "Now," Suri continued in a quiet, but nasty tone. Coco let out a sigh before continuing.

After about 20 minutes, Sunny saw a green SUV pull up. She saw Juniper in the back, with the driver window darkened. Juniper stepped out of the car, happily running toward Sunny.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper said, carrying a bag of stuff.

"Hey, June," Sunny Sunny replied. "Come on, let's go inside. We've got lots to discuss."

"OK," Juniper said.

Juniper stepped into Sunny's home. It had a beautiful atrium, a well-stocked and orderly kitchen, and a fancy den.

"So what do your parents do," Juniper asked. "And where are they?"

"My parents manage hedge funds," Sunny said. "They usually go to these parties and business dinners, so I only see them on weekends. Yours?"

"My mom is a housewife," Juniper said. "My dad is a car salesman."

"Was that the guy who dropped you off," Sunny asked.

"No, that was my uncle," Juniper said.

"What does he do," Sunny asked.

"Uh," Juniper said, stalling, "supervisor."

"Really, what does he supervise," Sunny asked.

"Uh, troubled people with maturity problems," Juniper replied, remembering the stress Uncle Canter had dealing with egotistical actors. He often complained being a director made him into a babysitter for a bunch of prima donnas.

"So, he's like a special needs counselor," Sunny discerned.

"Sort of," Juniper replied. "The people he works with have...really special needs."

"Anyways, let's go to my room," Sunny replied, pulling Juniper upstairs.

SUnny opened the door. Juniper looked in awe, as Sunny's room was as sumptuous at every other room in the house. A Persian carpet, a fancy king-sized bed with purple sheets, a personal bathroom, and a fancy drawer carved from really sturdy wood.

"OK," Sunny said. "Let's go over the schedule. Tell me the order of what we want to do." After a half-hour, Juniper tiredly said aloud the order of events at the party.

"You can memorize science stuff, but you can't memorize a simple schedule," Sunny asked with some jest.

"Party stuff isn't my thing," Juniper said, annoyed.

"OK," Juniper said. "Now what?"

"OK let's work on your conversation skills," Sunny said, her voice becoming serious. "You go off into tangents about science and stuff, and it is great and all that you love science. But people get annoyed if you dump info on them when they don't care." Sunny punctuated her point with a glare. "If you meet someone new, try and find something you both like to talk about, or at least talk to them about the things they care about. Got it?"

"Yes," Juniper said. "My parents told me the same thing. I won't bring up science at the party."

"Good. Now show me the outfit you want to wear," Sunny said. Juniper pulled out a pink top and a grey skirt that she presented happily. Sunny looked like she was swallowing lemon.

"What is it," Juniper asked, "did I do something wrong." Sunny's face turned to snarl.

"Are your parents colorblind," Sunny muttered, annoyed.

"What do you mean," Juniper asked in confusion.

"These don't match you at all," Sunny said with fury, throwing the tacky clothes on the floor.

"My mom said it was cute," Juniper said.

"That's exactly why you shouldn't be wearing it," Sunny muttered. "What makeup did you bring?" Juniper looked down.

"I don't normally use makeup," Sunny said. She was about to go to her bathroom when she saw Juniper looking sad.

"Juniper what's wrong," Sunny asked.

"Do you think I'm ugly," Juniper asked.

"No. Why would you-,"

"Well, you're making me wear different clothes and makeup," Juniper said sadly. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, why would you-,"

"Do people in this world only care about looks?" Juniper asked. My dad says they don't matter, but my mom bugs me about any issue with my clothes. Are people out there just shallow?" Juniper said sadly. Sunny paused trying to come up with an answer.

"Let me put it this way," Sunny said. "If you worked as an HR director, and you had to choose between someone who dressed like a slob, and someone who was well dressed, who would you pick?"

"The well-dressed guy," Juniper replied.

"If I go shopping, will you go to a clean, well-run store or a dirty, rundown store," Sunny continued.

"Clean, obviously. What is your point?"

"A nice outfit and makeup are more than looks," Sunny said. "They say to the word "You matter", they say to the world "I am going to catch it by the tail"," Sunny continued. "A good outfit tells people you are an achiever, and says that you have confidence."

"Well, I don't have much of that," Juniper said.

"Well, talking pride in you appearance is one way to build confidence," Sunny said. She looked at Juniper, who was sitting nervously on the bed. She bent her neck and gave Juniper a warm smile. "And if you have questions, I'm here to help you, rain or sleet." Juniper returned the smile with a grateful one.

"You want to build some confidence," Sunny asked, giving her a challenging look.

"Well-,"

"I said do you want confidence!"

"Yes!"

"OK," Sunny said. "Then get your butt into these clothes and try on some makeup."

After 45 minutes of trying on different sets of outfits, looking at different kinds of makeup, and wearing different accessories, Sunny declares her work complete.

"So, what do you think," Sunny asked Juniper, who was staring herself in the mirror. Juni[er's hair had been brushed and sprayed, and those movie reel-shaped barrettes were removed, allowing her hair to flow down naturally, where it almost shined after a lot of grooming. Her cheeks were lightly blushed. Her top consisted of a purple sleeveless blouse, while on the bottom, she wore mauve and white pants that revealed her ankles. On her feet were red high-heeled shoes.

"I, I," Juniper said. "I look great," Juniper said.

"And if you can look great, you can feel great," Sunny said.

"Thank you so much, Sunny," Juniper said, so happy she looked sad.

"No need to thank me," Sunny said. "Just do the best you can." Her smile turned sly. "Or, do the best a normal person who isn't you can do." Juniper let out a small snicker.

"I will," Juniper said.

Sunny let out some relief that Juniper was secure enough to take a little ribbing.

_'Maybe this won't be so bad," _Sunny thought.

_'Being a Friendship Princess is hard,'_ Twilight thought tiredly, as she saw Sunset hiding underneath her bed, covering herself with her blanket, looking like a lump under the sheets.

"Sunset," Twilight said with frustration. "Come out from there. You've got notes to review."

"No," the lump said.

"Sunset," Twilight said. "You actually were able to capture some magic. That's good progress."

"Yeah, progress," Sunset said sarcastically from the sheets. "Breaking a window and burning some guy shows I am really progressing."

"That was an accident," Twilight said. "And that guy was wearing armor. You said it was an accident."

"Yeah, and it cost me 700 dollars to fix the window so the school wouldn't ban me from the labs," Sunset nearly yelled. "It's hopeless." Twilight gave her friend a grave look.

"Sunset," Twilight said. "Don't make me do this." Sunset said nothing. "I'm giving you one last chance, Sunset," Sunset said nothing. "OK, I warned you." Twilight took a deep breath.

"SUNSET SHIMMER," Twilight bellowed. The force of Twilight's yell blew Sunset off of the bed.

"Did you just do the Royal Canterlot Voice," Sunset muttered fearfully, and she pulled herself off the ground.

"YOUR EFFORTS HAVE BEN DISGRACEFUL," Twilight howled. "AS YOUR PRINCESS I COMMAND YOU TO GET BACK TO WORK!"

"But-"

"DO IT!"

"OK, OK," Sunset stammered, getting off of the ground and going to her computer.

"Works every time," Twilight said with a sly smile, as the red-haired girl looked at her computer notes.


	18. A Party to Remember

Wednesday Morning

Suri sat in front of the mirror in the school bathroom, trying to make sure her face was perfect. It was her fault for waking up too late to get ready at home, but she was resourceful enough to prepare for the eventuality. She was disturbed from her powdering by the opening of the door.

She glanced over and saw another girl burst in, with flowing blue-green hair and a beautiful, buttered up face. The glasses looked a bit familiar.

"How's it going," the girl said, airing a bit of confidence. She began to pull some makeup out of what looked like a luxury purse. She soon began to recognize the voice from somewhere.

"Wait," Suri said, narrowing her eyes. "You're that...Tulip girl?"

"Juniper," the girl replied, barely pausing from powdering her face.

"Well, you look awfully..."

"Stunning? Brilliant? Radiant," Juniper said with a wide smile, demonstrating an unusual, but change in demeanor of this mousy girl.

"Sorry," she said with a weird grin, some of that awkwardness returning, "I copied that from some dumb teen drama." She sighed. "I am just trying to make a good first impression."

"First impression," Suri asked.

"At Sunny's party," Juniper said.

"Oh, so she invited you," Suri said, putting on a sly smile.

"Yes she did," Juniper said with a voice that was calm, but with barely restricted excitement.

"Did she give you the address," Suri said, her grin getting wider.

"Why wouldn't she," Juniper said, mistaking Suri's smile as friendly. "She's been very helpful."

"Really," Suri asked.

"She's been giving me makeovers, clothes, and advice," Suri raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"She has," Suri asked, her voice a mixture of confusion and suspicion.

"Yeah. I don't know why, but all of a sudden, Sunny and her friends started hanging out with me." Juniper's confident mask dropped as an undeniably happy grin formed on her face. "I'm so lucky to meet someone as nice as Sunny." Juniper looked at her phone, ignoring the calculating visage forming on Suri's face. "Oh, I've got to get to class, nice meeting you-," Juniper paused. "I haven't caught your name."

"Suri."

"Suri. Are you going to be at Sunny's party," Juniper asked.

"It's actually my party," Suri said. "Sunny's hosting it in her home."

"I wonder why she didn't mention you to me," Juniper wondered aloud. "I really got to go. See you tonight." Juniper ran out happily. Sunny's face was that of a wolf tasting fresh meat.

"Oh Sunny, I am so proud of you," Suri said to herself. "You and your friends understand that the best people to knock down are the people on the highest perch." She went to the sink and turned on the faucets, letting out a sigh of relief as the warm water poured on her knuckles.

"You've given this girl everything, only to take it away from her," Suri added happily, the warmth on her hands making her speak in an almost euphoric tone. "But that doesn't mean I also won't try and put "Ms. _Radiant_" in her place." She let out a small snicker that quickly descended into a fit of cackling.

"Excuse me," an old voice said, "What is so funny?" Suri turned around and saw a decrepit looking old man in a yellow suit, and a yellow hat.

"AHHH," Suri yelled, startled by the sudden appearance of an old man, who she noticed was carrying a broom and tugging a cart full of cleaning supplies. "What are you doing here?!" The man gave her a sly grin.

"Well, I'm the business real estate," the man said in a sarcastically lofty tone. "I came here to appraise the real estate what do you think I'm doing in here?!" The man pointed to his janitor stuff to make the point clear. Suri stormed out of the room, red in the face.

"These girls are weird," the janitor muttered in an exasperated tone as he began his work.

After her small embarrassment, Suri regained her composure as she walked toward Coco, who was going through her locker.

"Coco sweetie," Suri said in a sugary tone. Coco turned toward Suri, the words sounding in her ears like a royal command. "We are going to teach some dumb little bigshot her place."

"Uh, you just an oxymoron," Coco said with an awkward tone, "you know, "big' and 'little' are, um, two opposite words. Calling her little-," she ceased her ramblings at Suri's glare. "What do you want to do?"

"Teach a little girl that her 'dressing up' doesn't mean a thing," Suri said, as another vicious grin formed on her face.

CPA Cafeteria, 12:45 PM

At their usual table, the Shadowbolts gathered around Suny, as hosting the party had made her the center of attention.

"So, everybody's gonna be at the party," Lemon Zest asked with excitement.

"Fleur, Upper Crust, I think even Sapphire might come over," Sunny said, almost dreamily. The other Shadowbolts looked the same.

"Sapphire really," SUgarcoat said, her normally stoic facade replaced with some small excitement. Sapphire Shores was not merely popular, but a celebrity in the making. She knocked out of the park at the benefit concert last year, and her music got a great reception on both MyStable and WatchMe. It was clear that the girl was on the verge of becoming a hit singer. Befriending her would not only add to someone's social status but having a famous friend is a good connection to have.

"That girl rocks," Lemon Zest said. "I'm not much of a pop girl, but if she's at your party, you'll be set for life."

"Oh, you are so lucky," Sour said happily. "I wish I could go!" Sour slammed her face onto the table.

"What happened," Indigo Zap asked, concerned.

"I got a C on my math test, so my mom said I couldn't go," Sour said, her voice muffled by planting it onto the table.

"Sorry, Sour," Lemon said, putting a comforting arm on her friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry," Sour said, pulling her face from the table. "I can use the time to finish our Connor presentation." The rest of the Shadowbolts looked stoic at that.

"How is it coming along," Sugarcoat asked Sour, looking very serious.

"Great. Thanks to all the pictures Cadence gave us, I've made a retrospective of his life," Sour said.

"What's a retrospective," Lemon asked.

"A presentation about his life from childhood to his final days," Sugarcoat uttered.

"I've just got to do the finishing touches tonight," Sour said.

"Uh, Sunny, I wanted to ask you something," Indigo said, changing the conversation.

"Sure," Sunny said.

"Are you sure that bringing Juniper is a good idea," Indigo asked Sunny, giving her a hard glare. The rest of her friends were also giving her concerned looks. While Sunny was trying to be Juniper's friend, the other Shadowbolts still struggled to connect with her.

"Yes," Sunny said, her tone was a mixture of frustration and conviction. "Why do you guys hate Twilight so much?" There was a chill around the table.

"Did you just say Twilight," Indigo asked, concerned.

"No," Sunny said, flustered, "I think I said-,"

"Sunny, you said Twilight," Sour said, cutting off Sunny's denial with an unusually melancholic tone appearing in her voice. "Is that why you're hanging out with Juniper? Because you feel guilty about Connor?"

Suny sat in silence for a moment, and let out a sigh as everyone gave her concerned looks. While Lemon could seem airheaded, she could be very empathetic.

"Why shouldn't I feel guilty," Sunny barked with a defensive tone. "Don't any of you feel bad?"

"Yes," Sugarcoat replied. "But we can't let you from living your life. This party is important to you-,"

"Well," Sunny said. "I told my priest about what happened." When she saw the panicked looks in her friend's eyes, she added, "I didn't tell him EVERYTHING. But he told me I could make it up to Conor by trying to be friends with a girl like Twilight."

"And that is a nice goal," Sugarcoat said, "And I'm happy that you are trying to be a better person. But you can't let your guilt affect your life. Bringing Juniper into the party is a big risk."

"What is the worst that could happen?"

"Juniper could annoy everyone by going off onto obnoxious tangents about science, lose some of the games, or wear tacky clothes," Sugarcoat uttered. Sunny pinched her nose at Sugarcoat's description about what could go wrong, before giving her a confident smile.

"I'll have you know I've been giving her makeup training, fashion advice, and training her to control her words," Sunny said.

"Oh yes, I'm sure she'll change after a few days," Sour said happily. She then gave an angry frown. "Not!"

"Come on, I've seen her make a lot of progress," Sunny protested. She turned toward Indigo. "You said she's been doing better in the gym, haven't you?"

"She can do a pushup now without me straightening her back," Indigo said with some reluctance. "But she's still a bit of a nuisance." Indigo sighed and gave her a serious look. "Sunny, I know being a friend with Juniper is important to you, but this party will be the thing that makes or breaks you." Indigo Zap's look became more sympathetic. "Are you sure you want to risk that on some girl you just met? There are other parties you can bring her to."

"If there were other big parties I could bring her to this week, I would," Sunny said. "But," she paused, clenching her fists and preventing her eyes from watering over.

"What," Sour said, her tone full of concern.

"I'm afraid she'll just end up having no life," she admitted, whimpering. "I'm afraid of her not being able to make anyu friends besides me, and that she'll spend her time alone. Afraid...she'll end up like another Connor."

"I see your point Sunny," Sugarcoat said with some concern. "But this is A-lister party and Juniper barely qualifies for a D. By inviting her, you assume responsibility for everything she does, good or bad. Which means-,"

"If she goes down, I go down with her," Sunny finished with a sigh. She then regained some hope on her face. "But you should've seen her last night when I was done. She looked like someone who was on top of the world." Sunny glared at her friends. "And if she goes, you WILL be nice to her." The Shadowbolts let out reluctant grunts of acknowledgment.

"Anyways," Sunny began, but she paused when she saw Juniper walking toward her.

"Hey June," Sunny said, calling toward her. She paused when she saw Juniper wasn't wearing the makeup she wore this morning.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper said, giving her a smile that wasn't reaching her eyes. "How's it going," she said too quickly. Sunny looked concerned, seeing her friend's mood change from the go-getter attitude she saw this morning.

"June why did you get rid of your-,"

"Can we talk in private," Juniper said, gesturing with her thumb in the direction of the cafeteria doors. Sunny got up from her table and walked with June, who let out a small wave at the Shadowbolts. The two walked out the door, and near some lockers. The hall was empty, which gave them some privacy.

"I've decided this party isn't for me," Juniper said in a tone that wasn't peachy.

"June why don't you want to go," Sunny said in a more assertive tone.

"Because," June said stammering. "I don't think the popular girls are gonna like me. Maybe this is too fast."

Sunny paused. Somewhat selfish thoughts bubbled in her mind.

_'If she doesn't want to go, fine,' _Sunny thought to herself. _'My reputation will be secure, and June could find another way to meet people.'_

Sunny was about to reply before other horrible thoughts appeared in her brain.

_Juniper meekly walked down the hallway. Everyone barely noticed her and students bumped into her, seeing her as no better than a speedbump. Juniper let out a meek full of apologies as people carelessly collided with her body._

_Juniper sat alone in the cafeteria, picking away at her food. With a sigh, she brought her cafeteria to a table with a bunch of girls._

_"Hey," she said meekly to the group of girls engaged in idle chatter. They paused and looked at her like she was a train wreck. "Room for one more?"_

_"Sure," said one girl. Just as Juniper sat down, the girl let out a cruel grin. "In the mental hospital." The other girls laughed obnoxiously, while Juniper sadly crept away toward an empty table in the back._

_An aged Juniper sat in a broken-down house, dressed in rags, eating a TV dinner, and surrounded by a bunch of stray dogs._

_"At least you guys won't leave me," Juni[per said in a weak voice before one of the dogs grabbed the TV dinner. "That's mine," she bellowed and began fighting the dog with her teeth._

"No," Sunny practically yelled. Juniper looked stunned.

"What," Juniper said, a bit confused.

"You have to go," Sunny said, before sighing and giving her a serious look. "That's why you got rid of all of your makeup? That's why you went from being top of the world to looking like a dog died?" She continued with some exasperation. "June, if someone who didn't like you went to a restaurant you like, would you stop going?"

"No," Juniper replied.

"Then why are you letting that fear preventing you from going to this party?" Sunny almost yelled. "There are always going to be people in life who don't like you. You shouldn't let them control you, or keep you from having fun."

"But," Juniper inputted. "It's just beside you and your friends, a lot of people here don't seem to like me."

"And if you keep acting like a sad sack, then people definitely won't like you," Sunny said with a mixture of annoyance and jest. Juniper snickered a bit.

"What's so funny?"

"You sound like my uncle," Juniper said with some amusement. "He tells me the same thing."

"Well he's right, so am I," Sunny replied with a smug grin. "Look, I get you're nervous, but if you keep being nervous, you could miss out on a chance to meet some new people and have a good time. If you keep being nervous, Connor, you'll definitely end up alone." Sunny continued. She put a warm hand on Juniper's shoulder. "Look, whatever happens, I'll still be your friend, OK?" Sunny said.

"OK," Juniper said. She then stared at Sunny with confusion. "Did you just call me 'Connor'?"

"Did I," Sunny replied with a sheepish smile.

"Yes, you did-," Juniper said, her face becoming unusually stern.

"Sorry, I always mix up people's names," Sunny said nervously, trying to change the subject. "Let's go redo your makeup."

"But-,"

"Listen missie," Sunny said in an authoritative tone. "You are going to put on your makeup, you are going to look beautiful, or I will dunk your head into a bucket of mascara."

"OK," Juniper said defensively. "Lead the way, Uncle Sunny." Sunny snorted as she walked into the bathroom with Juniper following her.

Wednesday, 4 PM. Sunset's apartment.

Twilight looked with some joy at the ingredients that Sunset obtained and placed them on the table in her apartment. Flash was coming over for another dinner date, and Twilight was going to use it in order to learn how to cook with human hands.

"I can't believe it," Twilight said giddily as if she was a kid in a candy store. "First I'm trying out the new technology. Now, I'm going to prepare local cuisine. I love cultural exchange!"

"I've never seen anyone so excited over tomato lasagna," Sunset said with some jest. "Here it's a pretty normal dish. People can buy it frozen."

"I guess," Twilight said. "So you cooked for Flash?"

"Yeah," Sunset said.

"I thought you only dated him for popularity?"

"Well," Sunset said with some hesitation. "Cooking was just part of the act I played. When I was pretending to be the 'good girl'." She let out a sigh.

"Sunset," Twilight said, noticing her concern. "If this is bringing up bad memories, you don't-,"

"Look, I'm not secretly pining for Flash," Sunset said with some annoyance before looking down with sad eyes. "I just feel guilty for how I strung him along."

"Well don't," Twilight said with a reassuring smile. "I mean, you're helping him out by cooking us dinner, and you're letting us have a dinner date in your house. Helping him find someone else proves you're making it up to him."

"I guess," Sunset said in a happier mood. "Anyways, let's get to cooking."

After two hours of spilled bowls of sauce and batter and much flung flour, the lasagna was now cooking in the oven and would be ready in a half-hour.

"Well, we finally got it done," Sunset said with a mixture of joy and exhaustion to Twilight. The two of them were covered in baking ingredients and sauce. "It is a good thing I bought extra ingredients."

"Yeah," Twilight said sheepishly. "You go shower, and I'll go clean up."

"OK, thanks," Sunset said, walking toward her bathroom. Twilight walked toward the oven, trying to take a bowl of salsa and put it in the sink. As she walked, she tripped over a bowl on the ground. She fell toward the still-hot stove and put her hands forward to break her fall.

Sunset was about to turn on the water when she heard the loudest scream ever.

"AHHHHHH," she heard Twilight yell.

Sunset let out a sigh of exasperation and went underneath her bathroom sink to pull out a first-aid kit.

7 PM

Twilight and Flash sat at the table, enjoying their romantic dinner. Well, Flash was. Twilight struggled to use silverware. Her motor skills in her human body were still poor, and it was worse since she accidentally burned her hands. Sunset wrapped them up in a gauze, which meant she couldn't even use her fingers. Flash looked at her with pity.

"Look, Twilight," Flash said with a reassuring smile. "If you want to eat with your mouth, go ahead."

"Flash," Twilight said defensively. "I remember how weird everybody thought I was when I tried to pick up food with my mouth. I want to look normal around here."

"Twilight," Flash said. "We aren't in public. It's OK." Twilight let out a sad sigh.

"I'm sorry, I just feel like an idiot," Twilight said with some sadness. "I'm a magical princess and was a top-level student in my world, and yet I'm not smart enough to not burn my hands on the stove."

"Twilight," Flash said with a warm smile. 'You tripped and fell, by accident. People make mistakes like that all the time." Flash then gave her a seductive smile. "Besides, I can use this opportunity to spoon-fed you, and treat you like real royalty."

"Are you trying to butter me up, Mr. Sentry," Twilight said in a contrary tone.

"Is it working," Flash asked.

"Yes," Twilight said. Her face shifted into the image that was purely regal. "Very well, Sir Sentry. As your princess, I command you to feed me."

"Sir," Flash replied. "Am I being knighted?"

"If you treat your princess well," Twilight said in a regal tone, sounding almost like Rarity.

Flash took Twilight's plate, picked up a fork, and began feeding her. They both looked at each other with passion in their eyes. Flash pulled out his phone and, unbeknownst to Twilight, started taking pictures of their romantic dinner.

6:30 PM. Sunny's house.

Alongside Sunny's house, luxury cars were parked along with the side of the road. At least 20 girls clambered out of them, and into Sunny's house. When they entered her house, they saw Sunny standing in the atrium, checking their names on a list like a restaurant concierge, and taking their coats.

"Thanks for coming," Sunny said to all the people who showed up in a practiced tone. She let out a genuine cheer of excitement for the arrival of her fellow Shadowbolts.

"Hey guys," Sunny said.

"Hey Sunny," Sour said. "This looks great."

"This is pure awesome," Indigo said happily.

"The logistics were very well organized," Sugarcoat said without much joy. She happily took their coats and handed them off to Sunny, who tiredly carried them to a nearby closet.

Deep in Sunny's mind, there was one person she was anxious she would show up. Her thoughts were broken up as Suri approached her with a warm smile.

"Well this is it Sunny," Suri said with genuine joy. "As long as we do everything right, the night is ours!"

"Yep," Sunny said. "Anyways-," She saw Suri's face turn from joy to utter disgust.

"Suri," Sunny asked with concern, "Are you OK?" She turned and saw that Juniper had showed up in the outfit they set up last night.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper happily stated. "How do I look?"

"Uh, great," Sunny said, forcing a smile on her face, and she felt Suri's anger boiling on her face.

"Hey Suri how is it going," Juniper said half-heartedly, before walking past Suri and going onto the floor, where the other girls were chatting.

"What is she doing here," Suri asked Sunny, gritting her teeth. "I thought you were going to give her the wrong directions?"

"I did," Sunny said with fake shock. "She must've gotten here anyways. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Suri said, her face becoming less severe. "I'll make sure she stays gone." She was about to walk over to Juniper but found her arm being tugged by Sunny.

"What," Suri said with annoyance. "I'm trying to get that loser off your back." Sunny paused, trying to control the anger she felt boiling in her stomach, and come up with an excuse.

"Look," Sunny said, mulling her thoughts. "I'm worried you'll make a scene, or she'll start crying her eyes out in front of you. We don't need that." She paused as she watched Suri digest the excuse. "I'm not happy about it either," Sunny said, lying, "but we have to deal with her here."

"Your right," Suri said with a smile, bringing Sunny's hopes up a bit. "We don't want to make a scene. There are more than one way to skin a cat." Suri walked away, not noticing Sunny's stunned expression. She looked at Suri, but thankfully, she wasn't bothering to approach Juniper. However, she saw how Juniper wasn't connecting with anyone. Sunny pinched the bridge of her nose.

Despite being in a room with 20 or so people, Juniper felt more alone than ever. While she wasn't moping, she was frustrated that she couldn't find a way to get involved with. Everyone was in their own environment, and she was being treated like an invasive species. Even Sunny's friends seemed to ignore her, she looked at the nearby kitchen and decided to peek at some of the food in the kitchen. She looked and saw someone trying to arrange all the refreshments.

"Hi," Juniper said, trying to project an air of confidence. She had tan skin, two-toned blue hair cut down to her chin, and was wearing a fancy blue dress.

"Hi," the blue-haired girl said, before glancing at her. She looked back at Juniper and gave her a confused look.

"Uh, do I have something on my face," Juniper asked in confusion.

"What are you doing here," the girl asked with some apprehension.

"Uh, Sunny invited me," Juniper said. The girl looked at her with an expression of...pity.

"Uh, she did," the girl said, almost sadly. "Well...have fun." She turned away from Juniper and began pulling out and arranging the snacks. Juniper stared at her, and then looked back at the living room full of people and music. She stared at the blue-haired girl.

"I didn't catch your name," Juniper said.

"Coco," the girl continued, not turning away from her work. Juniper glanced at all the arrangements and was stunned.

"So, are you doing all this work yourself," Juniper asked. Coco looked up. "This has got to be enough food to feed 100 people."

"Suri wants the best so I give it to her," Coco said with exhaustion.

"Shouldn't she be helping you out?" Juniper asked. "Isn't this her party?"

"She is too busy," Coco said. Juniper looked into the living room and saw Suri gossiping with a bunch of girls. Her eyes narrowed.

_'Sunny is welcoming all the guests. Coco is doing the snacks. Suri isn't doing anything to help,' _Juniper thought with some frustration. She glanced over to Coco.

"Uh, need some help," Juniper said. Coco looked at her with surprise.

"Sure," Coco said after a few minutes of hesitation.

Sunny had checked all the guest spots on her list, pausing to make sure everyone was here. She was just about to set it down when another person walked in. Her heart soared.

Sapphire Shores walked into her home. She was wearing her hair like a blue ponytail. She was clad in a white dress that went down to her knees, purple shoes, and wearing purple gloves. Her face radiated a confident calm.

"Sapphire, I can't believe your here," Sunny said, feeling incredible joy.

"Oh please Sunny, even if I get famous, I won't ever forget you," Sapphire said. "Besides, I'd never pass up a chance at free food." Sunny let out a mirthful chuckle.

"Alright," Sunny said, "come on in."

"Everybody,' Sunny said. All the girls turned in her direction and looked awed as they saw Sapphire approach. "Here comes the guest of honor, Sapphire Shores!"

Everybody started cheering and clamoring around their celebrity classmate.

Juniper paused in her work at everybody's cheering.

"What are those girls applauding," Juniper said to herself, before returning to work with Coco, who hadn't paused in her duties.

Suri, the leader of the party, pushed through the crowd of girls to personally welcome Sapphire.

"Sapphire, darling, how have you been," Suri said.

"Good, Suri," Sapphire said.

"Tell me, how are the meetings with your agent going," Suri said.

"Well-,"

"Because my father knows some people who could help you in your negotiations," Suri went on, not noticing Sapphire's smile becoming strained.

In the kitchen, Coco and Juniper looked proudly at the job well done.

"Man this looks great Coco," Juniper said. "You really should go into catering."

"Yeah," Coco said. "Thanks for helping me out."

"Don't mention it," Coco said happily. She then frowned. "Um, June."

"Yeah."

"There is something I should tell you," Coco paused as she saw Sunny approached, and let out a whimper.

"What are you girls doing in here," Sunny said cheerfully. "The party is in there," she said, gesturing toward the living room. Juniper walked into there, feeling slightly better, while Coco was giving her an anxious stare.

"What did you want to tell me, Coco," Juniper said, glancing toward her.

"Nothing," Coco said, keeping her eyes on Sunny. Juniper shrugged her shoulders and walked toward the party.

"What are you planning," Coco said quietly.

"What are you talking about," Sunny replied. "I'm not planning on anything except having fun."

"Sure you aren't," Coco said quietly, walking past her without looking in the eye. Suny frowned, feeling a touch of cold anger in Coco's voice.

In the corner of the room, Sapphire was sipping a cup of fruit punch, trying to massage the headache she got from all the girls clamoring around her.

"Suri still never learns to shut up," Sapphire muttered to herself with annoyance. Since she gave a performance, everyone started treating her like a commodity and asking about her career, but Suri was especially dedicated to kissing up to her. Sapphire saw opportunism in Suri's eyes, and it was annoying. She wished she didn't have to talk about work during working hours.

"Hey," Sapphire heard and saw some bespectacled girl with long, blue-green hair approaching her. "Sorry," Juniper said, "Am I bothering you!"

"No," Sapphire said.

"OK. My name is Juni[per, what is yours," Juniper asked timidly.

"You don't know my name," Sapphire asked with some confusion.

"I just moved here," Juniper said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh, well," Saphire said, her jaded tone becoming slightly more magnanimous. "I am...kind of popular here."

"Oh, so do people need to book five months in advance to shake your hand," Juniper jokingly asked. Sapphire snorted at that.

"No," Sapphire said. "But sometimes I feel a red carpet magically appears whenever I walk around."

"Sounds great," said Juniper.

"Nah, it can be tiresome," Sapphire said. "So," she said. "What do you...like to do."

"Telecommunications," Juniper said, trying to remember Sunny's advice of not running her mouth.

"You mean, like, broadcasting," Sapphire asked.

"Sure," Juniper said.

"Have you ever worked for a band," Sapphire said.

"Well I did do AV at my last school," Juniper said, again pausing. To Juniper's surprise, Sapphire gave her a look of interest.

"Tell me all about it," Sapphire said happily. Juniper smiled, happy someone was interested in what she had to say.

"Everybody," Sunny said over the noise of the partygoers. Suri stood next to her.

"Now it is time to start 'Truth or Dare'," Suri said. "Everybody stand in a circle, for you will all be given a truth or dare." Suri looked in the corner as the girls got into the circle, and to her fury, she saw Juniper and Sapphire having a good conversation.

"Suri what's wrong," Sunny asked.

"It isn't enough for that geek t crash my-I mean, our party," Suri said, "now she has to start bothering Sapphire with her nerd talk." Sunny looked intensely at the two talking in the corner, fearing that Juniper was doing that. Sunny's eyes narrowed, not finding any trace of annoyance on Sapphire's face. "Don't worry, Sunny. I'll get rid of her soon." Suri stormed over to the two chatting, while Sunny watched with apprehension.

"So, the teacher blamed you for the feedback," Sapphire said with amusement.

"Yeah," Juniper said. "He couldn't accept that it was his own raspy voice that was causing the feedback." They both chuckled. "So anyways-," Juniper was interrupted by someone putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Juniper, time for truth or dare," Suri said forcefully, disrupting the conversation. "Hurry, hurry you don't want to miss it!"

"OK, sure," Juniper said, confused and annoyed with the interruption. She walked over to the circle of girls.

"Sorry Saphire," Suri said in a sympathetic tone. "I wish you didn't have to go through that."

"Go through what," Sapphire said with some consternation, "Juniper and I were having a-,"

"Oh Sapphire you are a saint," Suri interrupted. "You had to endure annoying losers like that, who talk their heads off, thinking annoying words are the most important thing on Earth."

"Look who's talking," Sapphire muttered under breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. She wasn't being annoying," Sapphire said, barely masking her frustration. "She seems nice-,"

"Anyways time to start 'Truth or Dare'," Suri said walking away from Sapphire, who was glared at her for a minute before following her with a sigh.

"Ok," Sunny said, pulling out a card. "The first person to go for truth or dare will be-"

"Juniper," Suri interrupted. Sunny was about to object, but Suri's glare cut her off.

Juniper stepped into the middle of the circle. Sunny and the Shadowbolts looked at her with concern, while the rest of the girls looked at Juniper with ambivalence or annoyance. They had little connection to Juniper, her having just moved there, and thus would look at her with judgemental eyes.

"Ok, so here are the rules, Suri said. "You have to do either a truth or dare If you don't," she paused, leaning to Juniper with a nasty look. "You have to leave the party." Juniper looked concerned. "OK, Juniper, which will it be? Truth or dare?"

"Please pick truth, please pick truth," Sunny said under her breath.

"Dare," Juniper said with a smile. Suri gave her a nasty look.

"OK June," Suri said. "I dare you to...guzzle down a really hot drink. Coco?" Coco ran into the kitchen and brought a bottle of hot sauce, a glass, and a bunch of other spices.

"You have to drink this," Suri said, as Coco poured enormous amounts of spice and sauce into the glass. "Without collapsing or screaming. If you don't, you lose the game, and have to leave." The crowd leaned in, except for the other Shadowbolts who looked alarmed.

"Uh, isn't this a little too much," Indigo said with some concern. "Maybe she can do another dare-"

"Too late," Suri uttered. She then walked back toward Sunny.

"See Sunny," Suri said to Suny, her voice dripping with pleasure. "I told you I would have everything figured out. The beanpole will drink that, scream or faint, and she'll run home crying." She looked at Juniper staring at the glass. "See she can't-," Suri paused as Juniper picked up the glass of spice stuff, and put the glass against her mouth.

"To everyone's shock, Juniper wasn't hacking or choking. She was guzzling the super-spicy stuff like it was a glass of lemonade.

"Ahh," Juniper sighed in a wheezing tone, as she put down the glass, and wiped her mouth with her wrist. Her face was red and sweaty, but she was still standing and not yelling in pain. Sunny and the Shadowbolts were happily surprised, Sapphire was intrigued, while everyone else was speechless.

"June," Lemon Zest asked, honest. "how did you do that?"

"I spent two months in Mexico with my uncle," Juniper said, still wheezing from the spice concoction. "The choice was either eat spicy food or die."

"You went to Mexico? Really?" Fleur asked, genuinely interested. "Did you go to Cancun?"

"For a few days," Juniper said. "No, we spent most of our time in the jungle, living in one of those villages."

"What was that like," Fleur asked, with other girls staring at Juniper with interest.

"Well," Juniper said. "we lived in huts and we ate these really spicy peppers all the time." Other girls looked really interested in the story.

Sunny looked proudly at Juniper. She was happily interacting with other people, and not going off into tangents. Her joy was broken by Suri running toward the circle.

"OK Juniper that is really nice," Suri interrupted in an incredibly condescending tone while grabbing June's shoulder and gritting her teeth. "But we should give other people a turn."

"OK," Juniper said, pulling her arm back from Suri, and walking back into the circle. The other girls looked a bit dismayed, before returning to their spot. Sunny looked at Suri with growing disdain.

Everyone else took their turn doing truth or dare. Sunny did truth and confessed she sucked her thumb until she was 7. Indigo was dared into doing a backflip. Sugarcoat did truth, obviously, and said Fleur's dress was tacky. Fleur laughed at the burn, liking Sugarcoat's bluntness. Lemon Zest was dared into singing the "Modern General Song."

Then came pillow fights, which was initiated when Lemon Zest pulled a sneak attack on Sapphire. Soon dozens of girls started swinging pillows at one another, with loose alliances of various girls that broke apart within minutes of the fight started. Sunny noted that Suri was a bit too aggressive with Juniper, but having to deflect others prevented Suri from being too harsh.

"OK guys," Sunny said. "Time for karaoke." Coco wheeled in a karaoke machine into the middle of the room. She turned toward Sapphire, who took the hint and began singing out some karaoke.

After several songs about romance, failed romance, and rebellion, everyone was speechless as Sapphire sang with her soul. After Sapphire sang for 20 minutes, she put the mike down and returned to the crows of girls. Sunny walked up to the microphone.

"OK," Sunny said, "who wants to go next?" Nobody in the crowd looked eager to go, feeling like the wouldn't hold a candle to Sapphire.

"OK," Sunny said, "let's move on to-,"

"Actually," Suri said, again pulling on Juniper's arm. Who looked nervous. "June really wants to go."

"No I-,"

"Come on June," Suri said in a deceptively gleeful tone, "you told me about how much you wanted to sing. She has a great voice." Sunny was about to object, before being cut off by Sapphire.

"Come on June, give it your all," Sapphire said. She started Chanting "sing", and soon everyone else did, except for the Shadowbolts and Coco who looked concerned.

"OK," Juniper said with some resignation. Sunny looked worried, and once again she began trying to suppress her anger as Suri approached her.

"What are you planning now," Sunny asked, gritting her teeth.

"Don't worry," Suri said, misreading her anger. "Once the loser wets her pants from stage fright, and sings off-key, she'll run out of the party herself." Suri turned her head toward Juniper, looking like someone who was watching a man get mauled by lions with glee. Sunny felt herself clenching her fist.

June timidly picked a song and looked at the crowd. Everyone, including Sapphire, seemed to stare at her with interest. She looked toward Sunny, Lemon, Sugarcoat, and Indigo. Instead of judgment, they looked at her with a kind smile. Sunny even gave her a discreet thumbs-up. Soon, a small, jazy tune started up.

"I know you think IO' done," Juniper began, in a small, soulful voice. "I know you think you've won." The crowd got silent, Juniper nearly put down the mike, but Sunny continued the mike, but Sunny continued to give her a thumbs-up. "I know you think I will fall..."

"She's good," Sapphire whispered to Sunny. She also heard other girls muttering the same thing, and Sunny began to feel chills from June's deep tone. Juniper began to relax, her smile being wider.

"...but this is but the battle, not the war at all!"

The jazz music began to gain tempo, and soon Juniper's voice sped up as she sings the jazzy tune. Following Sapphire's lead, everyone started clapping alongside her. After 3 months of singing, the song reached its end.

"I have lost the battle, but you will lose in the end," Juniper said, closing her eyes as she read the chorus, "because you are but pathetic, my old...friend." Everyone started applauding Juniper. Saphire, Sunny, and the Shadowbolts started running toward her.

"Hey Sunny," Juniper said, "how did I do?"

"June you did great," Sunny said.

"It was truly epic," Leamon Zest said honestly.

"How come you didn't tell us you could sing," Indigo asked.

"A lack of confidence combined with the inability to face the crowd," Sugarcoat surmised.

"Yeah, that is pretty much it," Juniper said.

"Well Junie," Sapphire said. "I think keeping that sweet voice locked up is a shame." She put her arm around June. "I really should bring you down to Canterlot Records."

"I appreciate the offer Sapphire," Juniper said uneasily. "But I really see myself more as a tech person, not a singer."

"Oh come on," Lemon Zest said. "You sing better than a lot of pop singers today."

"No really, I'm good," June said shyly.

"Well fine," Sapphire said. She pulled out a card and gave it to Juniper. "But if my career takes off, give me a call. You could make a really good backup singer." Juniper silently took the card with a smile.

Unbeknownst to SUnny. Suri was watching the scene with jealous rage. Coco approached her.

"Suri, what's wrong," Coco asked with concern.

"That...that bitch upstaged me," Suri said, fuming. "This is supposed to be my night! My time with Sapphire! And I am not going to let that scrawny nerd take it away from me."

"What are you going to do," Coco asked. She flinched as Suri's face twisted into one of sick amusement.

"We are going to put that bitch in her place once and for all," Suri said. She grabbed Coco's arm and dragged her away.

After a few more events-diner, a fortune teller, and some cheesy teen dramas-the night had nearly come to an end.

"OK, everybody," Sunny said, holding a microphone. "Time for the final event. Our annual CPA Girl of the Year Award." Suri handed her the envelope, with an odd smile. "It is time for us to honor the girl who has done the most to represent CHS." She looked at Sapphire. Sapphire was already decided, but doing the ceremony was fun. She opened the envelope. "The winner is..." she paused. To her shock, Sapphire's name was crossed out, and Juniper's name was penciled in.

"Juniper," Sunny read with confusion, which was heard as she talked into the microphone. Everyone in the room looked in confusion at Juniper, who herself was speechless and perturbed by the attention.

"Give it up for Juniper," Sapphire said loudly, and everyone started cheering. Suri started pulling on Juniper. Sunny felt a pit in her stomach, as a past memory washed over her.

"Come on Junie," Suri said to Juniper, directing her to stand in a certain spot. "Stand here. If you do, you'll get a really good prize."

"OK," Juniper said with some confusion, finally letting Suri pull her into a corner.

Time seemed to slow down as Sunny stared at June. She looked up, and saw above June was some bucket suspended by a rope.

Suny felt a pit in her stomach grow, especially as Suri approached her.

"This girl is going to get something she won't forget," Suri purred into Sunny's ear. Sunny started shaking, sweating, and feeling sick, as she followed the rope to a corner of the room that was hidden.

"OK, Coco," Suri yelled into the corner of the room. Give June her prize." The bucket started to turn over. Sunny felt time sow further. She couldn't hear anything except the sound of the bucket tipping over. Without thinking, Sunny ran toward Juniper, who looked at her in shock, and pushed her out of the way. Sunny fell to the ground, the fall making her feel pain in her torso, and felt some weird smelling paste-stuff drip all over her clothes and skin. Sunny laid there, in shock and in some agony.

Juniper got off the ground and glared at Sunny in a fit of rage at being knocked down.

"Sunny, what's the big idea-," she paused as she saw Sunny on the ground, covered in rotten milk and groaning. She looked up in confusion and saw the bucket above her head. Everyone else in the room was staring in shock at what just happened.

"Sunny," Lemon Zest said, breaking the silence. She and the other Shadowbolts, as did Juniper, rushed over to help Sunny up.

"Are you OK," Indigo asked with concern.

"She is coated with rotten milk and her ribs are bruised from the fall," Sugarcoat said. "Science says no."

"Sunny," Juniper said, approaching her friend with worried eyes. "What happened." Sunny finally rose to her feet but was cut off by an angry Suri stomping toward her, with Coco in tow.

"You bitch!" Juniper and the other Shadowbolts turned toward Suri. "We were gonna have the best night ever, and you ruined it with this stunt! We had the chance to get rid of this loser!"

"Wait," Juniper said, in confusion. "You guys were planning to dump that on me?" The hurt in June's voice was palpable and it made Sunny and the other Shadowbolts feel a knot in her throat.

"I, I didn't," Sunny said weakly but Suri butted in.

"I had the idea, Coco pulled the string," Suri said viciously. Coco looked away from Juniper, ashamed. "Sunny told me about how much of a whiny little wimp you were," Suri practically bellowed at Juniper. "How you whined to the principal about this party."

"You said I whined to the principal," Juniper asked Sunny, sounding hurt and dismayed. Sunny began feeling even worse.

"Yeah, she told me everything," Suri said, practically growling. "And since she was too much of a wimp to say it, and let you get soaked, I will." Suri looked at Juniper with utter disgust. "You are a worthless pile of crap, a stupid little whore who doesn't belong."

Suri went on with the insults for several moments. Everyone looked on with shock. Sapphire and the Shadowbolts' faces curled with disgust. Coco looked down in shame. Despite being in pain, Sunny's eyes became more stone, seeing Suri belittle Juniper, and Juniper looked even more distressed.

"No one likes you," Suri said, finishing her tirade. Juniper looked to be on the verge of tears, her lips quivering. "Now take your worthless little-,"

"GET OUT!" Suri paused and looked at Sunny, who was giving her a look that could kill.

"What," Suri said with disbelief.

"Get out! Are you deaf," Sunny said, her voice dripping with rage.

"This is my party," Suri said smugly.

"This is my house, get out!"

"How dare you," Suri said. "I was only trying to help you after she tattled on you."

"I lied," Sunny admitted. She glanced over to Juniper, who was giving her a very cold look that chilled her bones. She looked away, and back at the sneering face of Suri. "I lied because I was too much of a coward to admit that I wanted to be friends with Juniper-,"

"You wanted to be friends with this pathetic-," Suri paused, and let out a cruel laugh. "Why would you-,"

"Because she's nice," Sunny practically yelled. "What is your problem? Why do you have to be-,"

"Because she's a loser who won't shut up," Suri bellowed back. The other Shadowbolts all looked down in shame. "Because she doesn't take hints. I gave her a warning, and she just didn't get-"

"Wait," Juniper said, sadness and shame returning to her voice. "You're the girl who put that picture in-,"

"What picture," Indigo asked her. Juniper looked down in shame. "What picture," Indigo asked Juniper more forcefully. June tearfully pulled a paper out of her purse. Sunny and Indigo looked at it. They gasped.

On top of the picture was a cruel caption, written in red ink, said: "Nobody likes pigfuckers." Below was a horrible caricature. of Juniper doing...carnal thing with a pig.

Sunny read it over feeling her rage return. She furiously rolled the picture up into a ball and turned toward Suri in a fit of rage.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Sunny bellowed."This is your last warning," she practically growled.

"Fine," Suri said, not feeling disturbed by Sunny's anger. "Stay here with your loser friend. From now on, you'll be as much of a target as her." Suri turned toward the peanut gallery. "Come on everybody, let's go."

"Fine, leave," Sunny said without a care in the world, moving to stand in front of a silent, shaking Juniper, and facing the crowd of shocked girls. Despite being covered in spoiled milk, Sunny stood firmly with a face full of stone as she glared at everyone. "If being popular and hanging out with you guys, means being a sadistic little coward, I'd rather be alone!" Sunny took a deep breath and gave everyone the harshest glare she could muster. "High school should be about having fun and sharing, not about making fun of someone for being different," she yelled to the crowd. "Who cares if Juniper is a nerd? Who cares if she talks about tech? I think she's awesome and smart, and funny!" Sunny took another furious breath. "I'm her friend, and if any of you don't like it, fine!" She took another deep breath, her voice hoarse from her yelling. "Beat me up, stick things in my lockers, kick me out of your parties!" She furrowed. "Because let me tell you something. I'd rather be a pathetic loser and sit here covered in rotten milk than be friends with any of you if it means hurting people who are different and walking around with horrible bile in my throat."

Unbeknownst to everyone, Sci-Twi spied the party through the window, looking at Sunny with a proud smile.

"OK, fine," Suri said cheerfully. She turned to the crowd who stared at her in shock. "Let's leave these two losers to themselves." To her shock, she saw the other Shadowbolts move to the stand in front of Juniper, standing alongside Sunny, with crossed arms and looks that could kill .SUnny looked surprised and gave her friends a grateful smile.

"Fine," Suri said, "who needs the Shadowbolts anyways, let's-," she paused as other girls began walking away from her. To her growing fury, more and more of the girls began standing in front of Juniper, as if forming a protective barrier around the blue-green-haired girl. She felt a vein burst in her brain as she saw Sapphire walking toward Juniper.

"Come on Sapphire," Suri said pleadingly. "You can't possibly be siding with those losers-,"

"Shut up," Sapphire barked, giving Suri a look that oozed contempt. "The truth is, I only tolerated you because you were charming and popular. But now," she paused, taking a deep breath. "I want nothing to do with you." Saphire and the other girls were all giving her looks of utter contempt, "I'm gonna make sure you are banned from any concert I'm in."

Suri turned red in a fit of rage, seeing almost everyone, including Sapphire, turn on her.

"FINE," she yelled, all pretenses of civility gone. "I DON'T NEED YOU LOSERS ANYWAY!" She turned toward Coco. "COME ON COCO WE ARE LEAVING!" Coco looked down, not looking her in the eye or obeying her. "I SAID, WE'RE LEAVING!"

"I want to stay here," Coco said, turning toward Suri.

"What?"

"I want to stay here," Coco said more firmly. To her horror, Suri began storming toward her in a fit of rage.

"YOU BACKSTABBING, LITTLE-," Suri screamed. Coco let out a whimper of terror. Suri heard something running, and turned to see Indigo slamming a fist into her face too fast for her to block.

POW!

Suri was knocked to the ground, feeling her nose bleed. She felt herself being lifted up by her dress and was made to face an angry Indigo. Juniper looked over Sunny's shoulder and witnessed this, clenching her fist in a fit of rage.

"LISTEN HERE," Indigo bellowed. Suri let out a whimper of fear, and shock trying and failing t escape Indigo's vice grip. "When I let you go, you are going to leave this house. If you ever touch any of my friends again, I'LL BREAK YOUR NECK!" She pulled Suri closer until their noses were almost touching. "Do you understand!"

"Yes," Suri said, her voice like that of a small animal. As soon as Indigo let Suri go, the pink girl ran out of the house, furious tears flowing down her eyes. In one last swipe at her, everyone jeered as she ran out of the house.

When Suri left, everyone looked toward Sunny, looking at her with incredible reverence.

"Sunny that was awesome," Lemon Zest said.

"Way to go," Indigo said, her rage replaced with joy.

"Your honesty was an inspiration to us all," Sugarcoat said.

"You are one of the bravest girls I know," Sapphire said with a proud smile. "If you need anything from me, just give me a call. I know that you'll have my back no matter what."

"Thanks," Sunny said. A cough from behind a distracted Sunny from her euphoria. She saw Juniper giving her a glare with arms crossed, and her good mood died.

"So, what do we do," asked another girl.

"Uh, we still have another hour left. Let's just talk and eat all the refreshments," Sunny said. "I'm going to go upstairs and get cleaned up." She turned toward Juniper. "Why don't you come and help me."

"OK," said Juniper in a cool voice, having taken the hint that they were going to talk alone. Sunny walked up the stairs, and Juniper followed her.

"June," Juniper paused and saw Coco walking toward her. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so-,"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," Juniper said forcefully. Coco sighed and looked upset, but accepted that Juniper was not in a good mood to forgive her and didn't say another word.

Juniper followed SUnny upstairs. She stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked at Sunny with a piercing.

"Was this why you invited me," Juniper said in a furious tone that made SUnny shake. "So that the pink bitch would dump that junk on me."

"June," Sunny said in a pained voice. "I promise you that wasn't what I was-,"

"How do I know you're not lying," Juniper said, grinding her teeth. Sunny whimpered. "I mean, you lied and said I titled on you to the principal!"

"June look," Sunny said, her voice a whimper. "Suri...Suri didn't like you. That's why I lied. I was hoping that if you went to the party and acted well, she would like you."

"That's why you gave me your clothes and makeup? To impress her," Juniper said in frustration. "What if she told you straight up to prank me and treat me like an outcast? Huh! Would you have done that if I didn't meet her exacting standards from the get-go?!"

Sunny let out a mournful cry and began weeping.

"I'm sorry June," Sunny said, crying, her tears mixing with the rotten milk still coating her. "I'm sorry." She closed her eyes in shame, repeating her apology. She felt two arms wrap around her, and rub her back. She opened them up and saw June hugging her.

"It's OK," Juniper said, her face full of compassion, her voice soft. "I'm not mad at you."

"How can you forgive me," Suny said still weeping sadly. "I lied and strung you along."

"Yes you did," Juniper said, her voice soothing, almost like a mom consoling an upset child. "But you took a rotten-milk bullet for me. And you stood up for me, even when you thought everyone would hate you for it." She released Sunny, who wasn't weeping, but still looked upset, and gave her a warm smile. "I couldn't ask for a better friend."

"Thanks, June," Sunny said, wiping her nose as her crying came to an end. "Neither could I." She then smelled and remembered she was still covered in rotten milk. "I should get this cleaned up."

"Yeah you should," Juniper said, and looked as she saw herself covered in spoiled milk. "You can borrow my clothes if you need them," Sunny told Juniper as the purple-haired girl ran to the bathroom, closing it. She looked at where Suny was, and let out a happy smile. She felt her eyes water.

"Are you OK, June," Sugarcoat asked. June turned around and saw the other Shadowbolts followed her up the stairs. She let out happy tears and ran toward them.

"Thank you guys so much," Juniper said, giving Sugarcoat a hug. The aloof girl stared dumbly, but then returned the hug. Indigo and Lemon joined them in a group hug. They stood there, June letting out a sob, celebrating their newfound friendship.

Sour's house 10 PM

Sour looked at her computer, giving another serious review of Connor's memorial presentation. Cadence had set aside time on Friday morning for the whole school to watch the Shadowbolt's tribute to Connor. It had to be perfect, and there was no room for mistakes and errors.

Despite her tired eyes, Sour stared furiously at it, making sure every mistake was corrected. Connor deserved that and so much more.

"Don't worry Connor," Sour said to herself in a solemn tone. "I'll make sure everyone knows the real you. I'll make sure you look beautiful." Sour stopped to keep herself from crying.

After one last look-over, Sour saved and closed the file. She let out a yawn, feeling ready to go to bed. She gave her MyStable account a glance and saw a notification. She glanced up and read the notification.

"Pictures tagged 'Twilight Sparkle' have been posted," Sour said, reading the notification aloud. She opened it, and her jaw dropped, Twilight, with her hair down, was having diner with some blue-haired-guy.

Sour gritted her teeth, as she remembered who that was.

"That guitar playing guy," she said again aloud. "That was the guy I saw driving near the ice cream store, with that Rainbow girl and-," She stared at the screen again and opened up the photo. The date said it was posted _today_.

"I knew it," Sour furiously said as she pulled out her phone to text her friends.

"Tomorrow, lunchtime, library, Twilight-thing." Sour texted. Sour Sweet glared at the screen, imaging Twilight was right in front of her.

"I knew you had a twin! I don't know what you and those Wondercolts are planing Twilight, but I'll find out! Do you hear me!"

"Sour, honey," her mom said cheerfully, knocking on the door and interrupting her rant. "Was that you making that noise."

"Yes."

"WELL PIPE DOWN! YOUR FATHER AND I ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" Sour jumped from the sound of her mom's yell and went right to bed, her fury replaced by the fear of her mom's fury. Still, Sour barely slept, as she had a new mystery to resolve.


End file.
